The new president and chair of the board of directors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Zou Jiayi, on Monday said there is huge collaboration potential between the Beijing-headquartered bank and Hong Kong.

Speaking at a panel during the annual Asian Financial Forum, Zou also noted that multilateral development banks (MDBs) can play a "vital role" in building critical infrastructure and promoting industrialisation, especially amid geopolitical headwinds.

At a session titled "Fostering Cooperation for Shared Success", Zou, who assumed the role in mid-January, said that she's "excited" about the upcoming opening of the bank's hub office in Hong Kong later this year.

She added that the AIIB could support Hong Kong in further developing its role as a global financial centre, as well as a hub for technology, innovation, and maritime industries.

"Hong Kong, as an international financial centre, of course, the AIIB would need development financing, and so resource mobilisation is a very important area for us to cooperate," she said in her first public speech since becoming head of the bank.

"Secondly, as MDBs need to be a catalyst for change, that means the AIIB also works on promoting technological innovation, I think this also resonates with the policy agenda of HKSAR authorities.

"We are also in the position to finance infrastructures in Hong Kong, including those digital infrastructure, which is the strategic infrastructure today," she added.

Founded in 2016, the AIIB is a multilateral development bank with 111 approved members worldwide.