Seoul, Jun 16 (IANS): The second annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) started on Friday in South Korea.

The opening ceremony of the AIIB's board of governors meeting was initiated at the International Convention Centre in Jeju island, reports Xinhua news agency.

This meeting brought together about 2,000 participants, including delegations of both 57 founding members and 20 new members, global organisations and academia as well as businessmen, financiers and journalists.

The attendees included over 20 Finance Ministers of the 77 approved AIIB members such as Australia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia and Laos.

South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, who doubles as the country's deputy prime minister for economic affairs, would chair the official sessions.

The meeting is being held under the theme of "Sustainable Infrastructure", seeking strategic directions of the international infrastructure bank and making major decisions on the bank's management.

"This annual meeting is particularly important for our maturing institution, as it is a chance for our shareholders and partners to engage with us and provide diverse perspectives on how the bank should transform its strategy into meaningful outcomes for people in Asia," AIIB President Jin Liqun said in his welcoming message.

Along with the official sessions, a variety of side events were scheduled such as seminars on infrastructure and the one-on-one business meetings.

Several bilateral meetings between chief delegates will be held on the sidelines of the official sessions.

Officially launched in January 2016, the Beijing-based AIIB is a multilateral development bank initiated by China and supported by a wide range of countries and regions, which will provide financing for infrastructure improvement in Asia.