An Australian National University reseacher says a new investment bank being set up by China could help lift more people in the Pacific out of poverty but only if it's done well.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is being established to invest in new infrastructure across Asia and is expected to begin operations before the end of the year.
It's been widely seen as a counter-weight to the American-backed World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
A signing ceremony of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Beijing in October last year. Photo: AFP
A researcher at the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University, Terence Wood, says the Bank will need to work intelligently to deliver projects that will stand up 20 years from now.
"The Chinese have some track record, they're certainly good at getting things done but at the same time there are already examples I think of Chinese infrastructure development projects in Africa where the roads are decaying and look like they're to become replicas of some of the sort of white elephant projects that Western development agencies built during the sort of epoch of infrastructure investment."
It is envisaged the Bank will have initial capital of close to US$100 billion to invest in projects.