Cambodia and five other countries have agreed to donate $180.2 million to a multilateral fund to support infrastructure construction projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Chinese Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.

The fund was set up by the Multilateral Cooperation Centre for Development Finance.

The centre is a multilateral coordination mechanism jointly launched last year by the ministry, the Manila-based Chinese-led Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and six other multilateral development institutions, including the World Bank Group and Inter-American Development Bank.

Approved by the AIIB Board of Directors, the AIIB is the fund trustee and the executive agency of the centre’s projects. The bank also will establish a secretariat to support the centre’s operation, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The statement listed the donating countries as the Kingdom, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Hungary and the Philippines.

The ministry said it unveiled plans for the centre at the First Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in 2017.

CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK