ADB President urges Asia to develop together via cross-border links

SAMARKAND, (Uzbekistan): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda opened ADB’s 59th Annual Meeting on Monday, urging Asia and the Pacific to act together to develop together through stronger cross-border connections that drive resilience and inclusive growth.

“The decisions we make at this new crossroads will secure the future for the next generation,” Kanda told the meeting’s opening session. “In this fragmented world, traditional and isolated development responses will fail. To survive and thrive in this new era, we must build deeply connected and resilient systems.”

The 59th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors is being held from 3 to 6 May 2026 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, under the theme “Crossroads of Progress: Advancing the Region’s Connected Future.” The meeting brings together policymakers, private sector leaders, development partners, and innovators to advance practical solutions in regional connectivity, digital innovation, and development finance.

Kanda underscored how shocks today travel rapidly across borders—through energy markets, supply chains, and digital networks—hitting communities that are least able to absorb them. Addressing these challenges requires coordinated regional solutions that go beyond national boundaries, he said.

The ADB is responding by scaling up investments and accelerating reforms that enable countries to integrate infrastructure, markets, and institutions across Asia and the Pacific. Last year, the bank provided USD 29.3 billion in financial support to the region, while implementing reforms that enable it to deliver assistance more quickly and at scale.

On Sunday, the ADB launched a USD 70 billion program to build regional systems that will strengthen shared security and resilience in Asia and the Pacific. This includes a USD 50 billion initiative to build a Pan-Asia Power Grid, which aims to integrate renewable energy across borders, enhance energy security, and lower emissions; and a USD 20 billion initiative designed to expand cross-border digital connectivity and close the region’s digital divide.

The ADB has moved decisively to provide crisis response for its members during the ongoing Middle East conflict, becoming the first development partner to offer financial support for affected countries, which are expected to face further heightened economic pressures.

The bank projects growth in developing Asia and the Pacific to slow to 4.7% this year from 5.4% last year, while inflation is expected to accelerate to 5.2% from 3.0%, as prolonged disruptions from the conflict raise energy prices, tighten financial conditions, and weigh on economic activity across the region.

Under an even more severe downside scenario of renewed conflict escalation, in which oil prices spike in May 2026 and remain even higher, growth in developing Asia and the Pacific could slow to 4.2% this year and 4.0% next year, while inflation could reach 7.4% in 2026.

Kanda described ADB as “an anchor of stability” uniquely positioned to help steer the region through a time of geopolitical fragmentation, the devastating impacts of conflict, deep economic disruptions, and escalating environmental stress.

But the ADB’s work is far from finished, Kanda said. The bank will leverage its unmatched regional mandate, unique operational capabilities, and ability to act as financier, advisor, and mobilizer to address challenges like harnessing private sector funds for development and reversing environmental degradation.

“The work ahead is immense, but our purpose is clear. We have the strategy. We have the resources. We have the collective will to execute,” he said.

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, acknowledged the role of the Asian Development Bank and other international financial institutions in the large-scale reforms being implemented in Uzbekistan.

In partnership with the Bank, which has become a trusted strategic partner, we are implementing projects worth nearly USD 16 billion, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026