Asia and the Pacific ‘need $8.4 trillion’ to plug transport funding gap

12 Sep 18

Asia and the Pacific will need $8.4 trillion to fill the transport financing gap by 2030, the head of the region’s development bank has warned.

The current investment for transport in the region is only about half of what is required, the Asian Development Bank’s president Takehiko Nakao said, as he opened the Transport Forum 2018 in the Philippines today.

He said: “Opportunities exist to address this shortfall through increased cooperation between the public and private sectors.

“But in the process, we must move toward more sustainable transport options and mitigate the worst effects of climate change.”

The Transport Forum considered practical approaches to the region’s transport challenges and how knowledge could be shared about technology advances in the sector.

Attendees at the three-day forum at the ADB headquarters will also explore ways of getting private investors to support transport, particularly in small island developing states.

The bank has recently approved two loans totalling $400m to modernise and strengthen the railway sector in Azerbaijan. It has also given Pakistan $335m to help further develop a bus transport system in Peshawar.

Improving transport in countries is part of ADB’s 2030 vision, which focuses on resilience and sustainable growth to reduce inequalities across the region.

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