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DUBLIN, Nov. 21-- Ireland's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) membership strongly complements its existing bilateral and multilateral development programs, said an Irish minister on Thursday. Michael D'Arcy, Minister of State at the Department of Finance, made the remark while addressing the opening session of a two-day Asia business summit held here. "The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's governance standards and performance since its establishment in January 2016 reinforce the view that it can be an effective development actor," said D'Arcy. "It has worked very closely with other international financial institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Asian Development Bank to adopt their best practices in relation to governance, organizational practices and project appraisal," he said. AIIB, launched in Beijing in October 2017, is a multilateral development bank that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region. D'Arcy told the delegates to the summit that Ireland has attached importance to the bank as well as the Asia-Pacific region. "Asia matters, and matters hugely," he said, adding that the government of Ireland last year published a global development strategy called "Global Ireland" under which Ireland plans to double its global footprint by 2025. "One of the ranges of measures 'Global Ireland' commits to is the expansion of our presence in the Asia-Pacific region," D'Arcy said. | 
