ADB, Jica to launch new infrastructure fund for Asia-Pacific

TOKYO  – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) have agreed to launch a new fund aimed at boosting private infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific, where China is making inroads with its investments.

The organizations said on Friday the new fund, dubbed the Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund 2 (LEAP 2), would have capital of up to $1.5 billion provided by Jica, with the ADB acting as fund manager and administrator.

LEAP 2 will be the successor fund to LEAP, which began in March 2016 and concluded in August 2023.

The new fund will support projects focused on India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, including reducing carbon emissions, healthcare and education, ADB officials said.

LEAP committed over $1 billion in co-financing across 35 projects in 14 developing countries in the region. The projects supported 1.4 gigawatts of new electricity generation capacity, creating 7,285 jobs