Overview
- ADB, which unveiled the package Sunday in Samarkand, set 2035 goals for a $50 billion Pan-Asia Power Grid and a $20 billion Asia-Pacific Digital Highway.
- The power-grid plan targets about 20 gigawatts of cross-border renewable integration, 22,000 circuit-kilometres of new lines, and electricity access for 200 million people, with roughly half the funding from ADB resources.
- The digital program aims to bring first-time broadband to 200 million people and faster service to 450 million, cut remote-area connectivity costs by about 40%, create up to 4 million jobs, and deploy $15 billion from ADB with $5 billion in co-financing, supported by a new AI center in Seoul backed by $20 million to train about 3 million people.
- ADB also launched a critical-minerals facility to move countries into processing, manufacturing, and recycling, with a grant window funded by Japan’s $20 million and the UK’s $1.6 million, and a catalytic finance window anchored by $500 million memoranda from Korea Eximbank and K-SURE.
- India and Pakistan pressed ADB to expand capital tools and ease country exposure limits under its risk framework, as the bank pledged rapid support to Pakistan’s strained economy and said it would help keep essential imports flowing through its Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program.