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BEIJING, July 22 (Xinhuanet) --The New Development Bank, also known as the BRICS bank, has opened for business in China's economic hub of Shanghai.
Indian banker Kundapur Vaman Kamath assumes the post of the NDB's first president. China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei attended the opening ceremony on Tuesday morning, along with the bank's president Kamath and vice president Leslie Maasdorp from South Africa, and Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong.
Although the bank aims to foster greater financial and development cooperation among the five emerging markets, Lou said the NDB will supplement the existing international financial system in a healthy way.
"As a multilateral development bank initiated and established by the emerging markets, the NDB will focus more on the needs of developing countries, respect their national conditions and better represent developing countries' ideas. This will definitely enrich international development concepts, practice and experience, and improve the efficiency of development cooperation," he said.
NDB Vice President Leslie Maasdorp also said the bank will look to innovate in its governance model. The bank is operated by the five emerging BRICS economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and plans to issue its first loans in April next year.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
