PRESS RELEASE

---

The World Bank Will Back Belt and Road Projects

Sept. 15, 2017 (EIRNS)—Trying to avoid the plunge into obscure irrelevancy, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation has set up a fund for Silk Road infrastructure projects, the Bank’s president, Jim Young Kim, said at a meeting in Beijing, RT reported on Sept. 12. The first $1 billion has been raised, he said, as part of a planned $5 billion investment fund specifically for Belt and Road projects. Another billion is expected to be raised within the year.

"Investments, particularly in infrastructure, are extremely important," Kim said."The Chinese initiative ... catalyzes infrastructure investments."

"The World Bank will help the countries within the initiative to take maximum advantage of the opportunities provided, in accordance with their own development strategies,"

he said.