ADB $70 Billion Asia Connectivity Plan

Current Context: On May 3, 2026, at the 59th Annual Meeting of ADB in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, President Masato Kanda launched a USD 70B connectivity roadmap running till 2035.

• The plan has two pillars – Pan-Asia Power Grid (USD 50B) to build 22,000 km transmission lines, integrate 20 GW renewables, give electricity to 200M people, create 840,000 jobs, and cut emissions by 15%.
• The second, Asia-Pacific Digital Highway (USD 20B), will expand fiber, subsea cables, satellites, data centers, provide broadband to 200M new users, improve speeds for 450M more, and cut remote connectivity costs by 40%.
• A new AI Innovation Center in Seoul will train 3M people in AI skills by 2035.
• ADB will finance half the package itself, with the rest raised via governments, agencies, and private investors.
• This roadmap aims to turn Asia’s geography into resilience, linking power and digital systems into a unified regional network.

Question:

Q.1 At the Asian Development Bank (ADB) 59th Annual Meeting, 2026, the connectivity roadmap was announced in which country?
a) Kazakhstan
b) India
c) Uzbekistan
d) Thailand

Answer: c) The meeting was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.