Asian Development Bank (ADB)
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May 3, 2026
Connected energy and digital grids will drive growth across Asia and the Pacific in coming decades. They are a fitting focus for the opening day of ADB’s 59th Annual Meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
President Masato Kanda placed ADB firmly at the center of that dynamic by announcing the $50 billion Pan-Asia Power Grid and the $20 billion Asia-Pacific Digital Highway. Together, the initiatives aim to mobilize $70 billion by 2035 to link power systems, expand cross-border electricity trade, and build digital infrastructure.
A Financing Facility for Critical Minerals-to-Manufacturing Value Chains
Digital signals are often airborne, but they originate underground where minerals to make the technologies are found. Deploying these critical minerals responsibly across the value chain from mining to manufacturing and recycling underpins the Critical Minerals-to-Manufacturing Financing Partnership Facility launched today by ADB.
The Facility is intended to move the region beyond mining and into higher-value industries such as processing, manufacturing, and recycling.
Getting Critical Minerals Right: Critically Important for Economies
With extraction of critical minerals already happening, how can economies ensure they build responsible and resilient value chains that capture maximum benefits for development?
Ongoing projects were discussed at an ADB seminar, Scaling up Investments for Critical Minerals-to-Manufacturing Value Chains.
Panelists including Uzbekistan’s Minister of Mining Industry and Geology Bobur Farhodovich Islomov highlighted the role of blended finance, strategic partnerships, and policy reform.
How Can AI Propel Shared Growth in Asia?
AI can transform economies, but gaps in AI readiness risk driving uneven economic growth in the region, say ADB economists Roshen Fernando and Ed Kieran Reyes.
In their Q&A blog, What Is AI-Readiness and How Will It Reshape Asia and the Pacific?they argue that improving digital infrastructure, skills, innovation, and institutions are key to wider and more effective AI use.
ADB Issues Inaugural Disaster Relief Bonds in Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan
ADB announced its first Disaster Relief Bond offerings as part of its regional Risk-Layered Disaster Relief Finance Program, which aims to reduce the financial impact of natural hazards and climate-related shocks.
The bonds protect against severe disasters and provide quick liquidity to the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan following a qualifying event.
Solving Complex Challenges Together
Big challenges call for bold solutions—and that’s what Solving Complex Challenges Together is all about.
ADB is committed to inclusive, resilient, and sustainable growth through strategic partnerships and bold action—helping transform lives and economies across Asia and the Pacific.
