Asian Development Bank offers help to Pacific countries hit by Iran war
SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, May 3 (Reuters) – The Asian Development Bank said on Sunday it was “ready to provide emergency assistance to countries in the Pacific region reeling from the war in the Middle East and resulting fuel shortages.”
Speaking at the ADB’s 59th annual meeting in the ancient city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, ADB President Masato Kanda said countries in the Pacific region have been particularly exposed to conflict and needed urgent assistance to meet their energy needs.
“Beyond this immediate support, we are ready to help Pacific countries strengthen their resilience to external shocks by diversifying their energy sources,” he said.
Earlier on Sunday, the bank unveiled a $70 billion program aimed at developing energy and digital infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region by 2035.
Kanda said the bank’s recent estimates put growth in the Pacific declining to 2.8% in 2026, from 4.2% last year.
(Reporting by Muhammadsharif Mamatkulov; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin, editing by Tomasz Janowski)
