ADB announces $70bn initiative to boost cross-border electricity trade, increase broadband access in Asia-Pacific

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on Sunday a $70 billion initiative on Sunday to expand energy and digital infrastructure across the ​Asia-Pacific region by 2035, aiming to strengthen power grid ‌links, boost cross-border electricity trade and increase broadband access. The plan includes $50bn for a new Pan‑Asia Power Grid Initiative and $20bn for the Asia-Pacific Digital Highway project. At the inaugural session of its May 3-6 annual meeting in Samarkand, the Manila-based lending agency said it “will back $70bn in new energy and digital infrastructure initiatives by 2035, aiming to connect power grids, expand cross-border electricity trade, and improve broadband access across Asia and the Pacific”. “Energy and digital access will define the region’s future,” said ADB President Masato Kanda. “These two initiatives build the systems Asia and the Pacific need to grow, compete, and connect. 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”, he said, according to the ADB announcement. Pan‑Asia Power Grid Initiative Pakistan, that continues to face the complex challenge of electricity shortages despite surplus generation capacity, could benefit from the initiative. But an official told Dawn that it was too early to reach a conclusion. Pakistan sits at the crossroads of surplus generation capacity, demand curve and supply shortage, said a government official, adding that with regional cooperation facilitated by an international multilateral and digitally synchronised by AI-driven smart infrastructure could be win-win solution for all. He declined to officially comment on record, saying the initiative had just been announced and would have to be examined in detail on technical, financial and diplomatic grounds once it passed through the official channels and forums. Pakistan’s daytime demand drops to an average of 9,000-10,00