PRESS RELEASE

8 February 2021

TONGA BECOMES THE 84^TH MEMBER OF THE ASIA INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT BANK (AIIB)

BEGINS

On 5^thof January 2021, Tonga became the 84^th member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The occasion was marked with a flag ceremony at the AIIB Headquarters, with the presiding presence of the President of the AIIB Mr. Jin Liqun, Vice President Right Hon. Sir Danny Alexander, Vice President D.J Pandian and Senior Officials from the AIIB.

The AIIB has also appointed the Hon. Tevita Lavemaau, the Minister of Finance of the Government of Tonga, as the Governor representing Tonga to AIIB. Ms. Balwyn Faótusia, the CEO of the Ministry of Finance, was also appointed as Tonga’s Alternate Governor. Tonga, together with Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu, has joined the Constituency Office led by the Executive Director of South Korea and the Alternate Executive Director of Israel.

Figure 1: Vice President Sir Danny Alexander presenting the Certificate of Membership of the AIIB to His Excellency Ambassador ‘Uta’atu.

Figure 2: His Excellency Ambassador ‘Uta’atu and President Jin Liqun of AIIB.

Figure 3: H.E. Ambassador ‘Uta’atu and President of the AIIB, Mr Jin Liqun

*Figure 4: (L-R) FS Tupou Vaipulu, VP – Sir Danny Alexander, H.E Ambassador ‘Uta’atu, President Jin Liqun, VP – D.J Pandian and AIIB Senior Officials after the ceremony*

At a brief exchange between His Excellency Ambassador ‘Uta’atu and President Jin, Ambassador ‘Uta’atu remarked, “as the Representative of His Majesty and the Government of Tonga to the People’s Republic of China, I am deeply honoured to witness the final phase of Tonga’s membership process and the flag ceremony, to mark the official accession of the Kingdom of Tonga as the 84^th member of AIIB”. Ambassador ‘Uta’atu also expressed his sincere gratitude for the trust and the decision to approve the application of the membership of the Kingdom of Tonga. President Jin in his remark, welcomed the Kingdom of Tonga to the AIIB and looks forward to forging closer working relationship with Tonga in the areas of Climate Change and Renewable Energy, to name a few. The ceremony lasted for about 30 minutes.

Embassy of the Kingdom of Tonga, Beijing China.

ENDS.