JICA, ADB to launch $1.5 bln infrastructure fund, Vietnam in focus

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will establish the Leading Asia's Private Infrastructure Fund 2 (LEAP 2) with the capital of up to $1.5 billion, the duo announced Friday.

Key markets for the fund are India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, according to the ADB. The fund aims to co-finance high-quality, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific.

Funded projects will aim to reduce carbon emissions, improve energy efficiency, and offer accessible and affordable health care, education, and communication services.

The fund’s broader scope includes investments in agribusiness and education where there is a clear link to infrastructure, while excluding gas refining, processing, transmission, and distribution, ADB said in a release.

LEAP 2 is the successor to LEAP, which began in March 2016 and concluded in August 2023. LEAP 2 will continue to support ADB’s private sector operations by providing commercial and concessional finance for ADB projects. ADB will serve as the fund manager and administrator.

LEAP committed over $1 billion in co-financing across 35 projects in 14 of ADB’s developing member countries; and facilitated $13.8 billion in infrastructure investment, including $7.8 billion in the renewable energy sector, ADB noted.

LEAP 2 will contribute to ADB’s mission of reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific, where annual infrastructure financing needs are estimated at about $1.7 trillion, ADB said.