World Bank Group and the New Development Bank (NDB) set up by the BRICS nations on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen their cooperation in addressing global infrastructure needs.

The memorandum, signed by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and NDB President K.V. Kamath, formalized the World Bank Group-NDB knowledge partnership, paving the way for the two institutions to explore country-level cooperation that would primarily focus on infrastructure, the World Bank said in a statement.

"Signing this agreement enables our institutions to strengthen our collaboration. When the world's multilateral banks work closely together, and support development that promotes inclusive growth in low- and middle-income countries, the poor and the vulnerable benefit the most," Kim said.

Under the agreement, the World Bank and the NDB will explore and pursue opportunities for the co-financing of projects, facilitate knowledge exchange regarding their operations in accordance with their respective policies and procedures, explore opportunities for advisory services and facilitate secondments and staff exchanges.

"We greatly appreciate timely support offered by the World Bank Group throughout our establishment process, and look forward to advancing and deepening our cooperation," Kamath said. "We at the NDB, will listen, learn and collaborate to promote sustainable infrastructure development in our member countries."

Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB was jointly founded by the BRICS countries of China, Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa in July 2014 and became fully operational in February 2016. Aiming to promote infrastructure and sustainable development with an initial focus on BRICS countries, the bank also complements the efforts of other financial institutions to realize the common goal of global growth.

Source : XINHUA