Jakarta. The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, will present an “important political component” to infrastructure development as Asian economies continue to grow, a panelist said on the 24th World Economic Forum on East Asia.

“There’s an important political component in the AIIB in distributing balance [in the global economy],” John Kurtz, head of client services and global head of diversity and inclusion at A.T. Kearney, told participants at the "Pumping Asia’s Infrastructure Pipeline" session in Jakarta on Tuesday. He spoke on the last day of the three-day event.

“I think the more alternatives, the better. I think competition in the process is also good. As an option, [AIIB] is important,” he added.

A similar sentiment was shown during the second day of the event by John Riady, Lippo Group executive director and co-chair of the WEF on East Asia. He mentioned the need for a “recalibration” among global financial institutions – such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank — to reflect the current landscape of the economy worldwide.

With roughly 35 countries enlisted – including Indonesia, India and Britain – the $50 billion AIIB expects to start operations by the end of the year.

Countries across the Southeast Asian region including Indonesia and the Philippines have ambitious programs for infrastructure development on hopes of furthering their economic growth.

GlobeAsia and the Jakarta Globe are media partners of the WEF event. GlobeAsia and the Jakarta Globe are affiliated with Lippo Group.

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