Asia's 'infrastructure wars' move into new theatre

Tokyo

WHAT some term "infrastructure wars" in Asia are being ratcheted up a notch with the signing of a co-financing agreement between the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Russia-backed and Almaty (Kazakhstan)-headquartered Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) to invest in Central Asian projects.

The agreement signed last week by ADB president Takehiko Nakao and EDB chairman Dmitry Pankin comes in the wake of January's launch of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which is expected to play a key role in providing infrastructure for the Eurasian continent.