Washington, April 24 (IANS) The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here to strengthen cooperation between the two institutions, officials said.

Under the MoU, both sides on Sunday agreed to cooperate on areas, including development financing, staff exchanges, and analytical and sector work, Xinhua news agency reported.

"It paves the way for the two institutions to further enhance coordination at the regional and country levels," the World Bank said in a statement.

The two institutions have already signed a co-financing framework agreement last April.

Since then, they have co-financed five projects, namely supporting power generation in Pakistan, a natural gas pipeline in Azerbaijan, and slum upgrading, dam safety, and regional infrastructure development in Indonesia.

The World Bank and AIIB are discussing more projects to be co-financed in 2017 and 2018, said the statement.

"Signing this memorandum of understanding fits into our vision of a new kind of internationalism," said Jin Liqun, president of AIIB.

"We place a high value on our partnerships because by working together, we greatly increase our potential for positive outcomes in Asia," the statement quoted Jin as said.

"Collaboration between development institutions is essential to make the best use of scarce resources, crow in the private sector, and meet the rising aspirations of the people we serve," said Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank.

Top multilateral development banks (MDBs), including World Bank, AIIB, New Development Bank, recently have agreed to deepen collaboration to encourage private sector investment in infrastructure to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth throughout the world.

The MDBs pledged not only to leverage their resources by joining forces to co-finance projects, but also help generate interest among private sector investors in public-private partnerships and the development of infrastructure.