NDB's new HQ in Expo Park starts construction today
Shanghai Municipal Government and the New Development Bank co-hosted the ground-breaking ceremony for the bank’s headquarters in Shanghai World Expo Park this morning.
Attending the ceremony were, among others, Xiao Jie, minister of finance, Ying Yong, mayor of Shanghai, K.V.Kamath, president of the New Development Bank (NDB), Shi Yaobin, vice minister of finance, as well as representatives from the BRICKS member countries and the management of the NDB. Zhou Bo, executive vice mayor of Shanghai, presided over the ceremony.
The new building of the headquarters is located in the Zone A part of the Expo Park, south to Xueye Road, west to Gaoke Road, north to Guozhang Road, covering an area of 12,000 square meters, with a total construction area of 126,000 square meters.
It was shaped like a spiraled triangle and the design was a full interpretation of the bank’s value of “innovation, equality, transparency and sustainability”, according to an introduction.
“With an advantageous location, it will become another landmark building on Huangpu River,” said President K V Kamath in his address.
The building is expected to be completed and delivered in four years’ time.
As the first international financial organization settled in Shanghai, the NDB was was operated by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), in an aim to build a sustainable future for the emerging nations.
Sixty percent of its funding from the bank will be used for renewables and sustainable infrastructure, said Kamath recently. The multilateral lender issued its first yuan-denominated green bonds worth 3 billion yuan in China’s interbank bond market last July.
The bank plans to approve at least $32 billion in loans, including 15 projects in 2017 and up to 50 in 2021, a senior official from the bank said recently.
Themed with "Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future", the three-day ninth BRICS summit will kick off in Xiamen, Fujian province starting tomorrow.