The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest a staggering US$70 billion to boost energy and digital infrastructure across the region – US$50 billion for a Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative and another US$20 billion for technology and digital connectivity.
The project demonstrates how the ADB is “moving beyond standalone projects” and “toward integrated regional systems that underpin growth, resilience, and energy security,” according to Bank president Masato Kanda.
The ADB estimates that economic growth in the Asia Pacific will slow to 2.8 per cent in 2026, down from 4.2 per cent last year, due in part to fuel shortages from the conflict in the Middle East.
The bank made the announcement on May 5 during its annual meeting in Uzbekistan. On the sidelines, the finance ministers and central bank governors from the ASEAN+3 – the 11 ASEAN states plus China, Japan, and South Korea – expressed concerns about financial market volatility and shifts in global liquidity. But they also reaffirmed their support for open trade and investment flows, and a rules-based multilateral trading system – one anchored in the World Trade Organization.
Canada is a founding member of the ADB.
The ADB announcement coincides with a Government of Canada announcement that it will invest C$20 million, through the Strategic Response Fund, in a refinery in Temiskaming Shores, Ontario, to produce battery-grade cobalt sulphate, which is used in electric vehicle batteries.
