The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced a commitment of up to $70 billion by 2035 across two landmark initiatives aimed at integrating power grids, expanding cross-border electricity trade, and strengthening broadband access across the Asia-Pacific region. The pledge was unveiled at the bank's 59th Annual Meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on 4 May 2025.

Two Flagship Initiatives Launched

ADB President Masato Kanda formally launched the Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative and the Asia-Pacific Digital Highway at the Samarkand gathering. The two programmes together represent the bank's most ambitious infrastructure financing push in recent years, according to reporting by Xinhua news agency.

"Energy and digital access will define the region's future," Kanda said, adding that by "linking power grids and digital networks across borders, we can lower costs, expand opportunity, and bring reliable power and digital access to hundreds of millions of people."

Pan-Asia Power Grid: $50 Billion for Cross-Border Energy

Under the Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative, the ADB aims to mobilise $50 billion by 2035 to finance cross-border power infrastructure. The focus areas include transmission lines, substations, energy storage, and grid digitalisation. The initiative seeks to connect national and subregional power systems to enable the seamless cross-border flow of renewable energy — a critical step as the region accelerates its clean energy transition.

This comes amid growing recognition that fragmented national grids are limiting Asia-Pacific's ability to trade surplus renewable power across borders, leaving millions without reliable electricity despite significant generation capacity in neighbouring countries.

Asia-Pacific Digital Highway: $20 Billion for AI-Ready Economies

The Asia-Pacific Digital Highway will channel $20 billion into digital corridors, data infrastructure, and what the ADB describes as AI-ready economies. The initiative is designed to close the digital infrastructure gap that persists across large swathes of the region, particularly in lower-income and island nations.

Notably, the programme explicitly targets artificial intelligence-driven growth — signalling that the ADB views AI readiness not as a luxury but as a development imperative for the region's next decade.

Revised Growth Outlook: A Sharper Slowdown

The infrastructure announcements coincided with a sobering economic update. Earlier on Wednesday, 4 May 2025, the ADB slashed its GDP growth outlook for developing Asia and the Pacific to 4.7 per cent in 2026, down from its previous forecast of 5.1 per cent. Kanda described the revision as reflecting a "deepening crisis," though the bank did not elaborate further in the cited statement.

Inflation for 2026 is projected to accelerate sharply to 5.2 per cent, up from 3 per cent in 2025, before easing to 4.1 per cent in 2027. "Our revised outlook is a significant downward revision for growth and a sharp increase in inflation following a special update to reflect the deepening crisis," Kanda said.

Founded in 1966, the ADB has 69 members, of which 50 are from the Asia-Pacific region. The scale of the new commitments underscores the bank's pivot toward hard infrastructure as a buffer against slowing growth — with energy and digital connectivity positioned as twin engines for long-term regional resilience.