The Asian Development Bank has announced a landmark $70 billion initiative to expand energy and digital infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific region by 2035, unveiled at the inaugural session of its annual meeting held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan from May 3 to 6, 2026. The package comprises two distinct but complementary programmes: a $50 billion Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative aimed at connecting national power systems and enabling cross-border renewable energy trade, and a $20 billion Asia-Pacific Digital Highway designed to build digital corridors, data infrastructure, and artificial intelligence-ready economies across the region. ADB President Masato Kanda said energy and digital access will define the region’s future, adding that by linking power grids and digital networks across borders, the bank aims to lower costs, expand opportunity, and bring reliable power and digital access to hundreds of millions of people.
Under the Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative, the Asian Development Bank will work with governments, utilities, the private sector, and development partners to mobilise $50 billion by 2035 for cross-border power infrastructure that can unlock renewable energy at scale. The initiative will focus on transmission and grid integration, including cross-border lines, substations, storage, and grid digitalisation, and will support power generation linked to electricity trade including renewable energy export projects, regional renewable hubs, and hybrid generation-storage facilities. By 2035, the bank aims to integrate about 20 gigawatts of renewable energy across borders, connect 22,000 circuit-kilometres of transmission lines, improve energy access for 200 million people, create 840,000 jobs, and cut regional power sector emissions by 15 percent. The bank expects to finance about half of the $50 billion from its own resources and raise the rest through cofinancing, with up to $10 million in technical assistance to support regulatory alignment and technical standards.
For Pakistan, the announcement carries potential relevance given the country’s complex electricity challenges. A government official told Dawn that Pakistan sits at the crossroads of surplus generation capacity, demand curve, and supply shortage, and that regional cooperation facilitated by an international multilateral institution and digitally synchronised by artificial intelligence-driven smart infrastructure could be a mutually beneficial solution for all parties involved. The official declined to comment on record, noting that the initiative had just been announced and would need to be examined in detail on technical, financial, and diplomatic grounds before any formal position could be taken. Pakistan’s total installed generation capacity already exceeds 58,000 megawatts when off-grid, hybrid, and net-metered solar is included, yet the country continues to face loadshedding due to fuel shortages and structural distribution inefficiencies, making cross-border trade frameworks a potentially important long-term lever.
The Asia-Pacific Digital Highway will mobilise $20 billion by 2035 to finance digital corridors, data infrastructure, and artificial intelligence-ready economies. Investments will focus on connected infrastructure including terrestrial and subsea fibre networks, satellite links, and regional data centres, alongside policy and regulatory support on cybersecurity risk management. By 2035, the initiative aims to provide first-time broadband access to 200 million people and faster, more reliable digital connectivity for another 450 million people, cut connectivity costs in remote and landlocked areas by about 40 percent, and help create 4 million jobs. A Centre for Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Development will be established in Seoul, backed by a $20 million contribution from the Korean government, to promote responsible and inclusive artificial intelligence adoption and help train about 3 million people in digital and artificial intelligence-related skills by 2035.
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