Trust fund operations support ADB as the climate bank for Asia and the Pacific while providing client-centric solutions and driving private sector development. In 2022, ADB established two new trust funds that will provide innovative climate financing and support low-carbon development in developing member countries (DMCs). The bank has also set up a trust fund to improve project readiness, ensuring that ADB projects contribute to DMC partnership strategy objectives. About 36% of trust fund contributions in 2022 went to trust funds that will benefit private sector development, while 35% will support trust funds promoting climate and disaster resilience.
Trust funds channel external resources and leverage partners’ knowledge and interest to support targeted projects and activities. They may be financed by a single partner or supported by multiple partners.
ShareAt A Glance
In 2022, ADB administered 43 trust funds. ADB worked closely with its partners to mobilize resources for a wide range of development priorities such as disaster risk management, clean energy, private sector development, gender and development, information technology, and more. Between 2018 and 2022, ADB’s partners have collectively contributed $1.5 billion to ADB-administered trust funds. During the same period, ADB’s trust funds provided cofinancing amounting to $1.8 billion to ADB operations in the form of loans and grants, equities, technical assistance, and scholarships.
Of the 43 trust funds, 25 are stand-alone, while 18 belong to ADB’s 7 financing partnership facilities (FPFs) focusing on clean energy, water, urban development, health, regional cooperation and integration, community resilience and private sector ventures. The FPFs are operational mechanisms for strategic, long-term, and multi-partner coordination. The facilities link various forms of assistance in a coordinated manner for key development priorities.
ADB’s fund managers monitor the use of funds for effective allocation, ensuring the availability of sources for new projects and activities as well as portfolio administration. As of the end of 2022, ADB’s trust funds have a total balance of $376.6 million available to cofinance new projects and other initiatives.
Download the list of active ADB-administered Trust Funds as of December 2022
WHO ARE OUR PARTNERS
Highlights of ADB Trust Fund Operations
Newly Established Funds
Three new trust funds were established in 2022. The Energy Transition Mechanism Partnership Trust Fund will mobilize resources for ADB’s Energy Transition Mechanism initiative to facilitate the transition from carbon-intensive coal-based power plants to clean energy in ADB’s developing member countries (DMCs). The Climate Innovation Development Fund is a concessional financing fund that aims to support sustainable low-carbon economic development in DMCs in South and Southeast Asia. The Project Preparation and Implementation Trust Fund will improve project readiness in DMCs.
2022 Partner Contributions Committed
Contributions committed by ADB’s external partners reached $264.2 million for 15 trust funds. Of this amount, $92.1 million were new contributions committed and $172.1 million were replenishments to existing funds. New contributions refer to contributions to new trust funds or a current partner contributing to an existing trust fund for the first time. While the total 2022 contribution is about 20% lower compared to contributions mobilized in 2021 (about $329 million), the amount of new contributions was significantly higher than new contributions committed in the previous year.
About 66% or $174.4 million out of the total 2022 trust funds contributions were committed by the Government of Japan for six trust funds. Germany followed with $31.5 million, and the Republic of Korea committed the third-largest contribution in 2022 at $14.5 million.
2022 Project and Technical Assistance Commitments
In 2022, total project and technical assistance (TA) commitments amounted to $172.6 million, of which $101.8 million financed investment projects and $70.8 million supported TA projects. About $4.3 million was also approved during the year for direct charges, which refer to activities that are key to supporting effective development but are not covered under other TAs or projects, such as workshops, training programs, and inputs from experts. About 53% ($91.9 million) of the project and TA commitments went to sovereign projects, and the remaining 47% ($80.7 million) financed nonsovereign operations. About 28% of total sovereign grant cofinancing commitments for investment projects and TA were financed by ADB-administered trust funds.
The Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific provided the biggest cofinancing in 2022 with $42.0 million in commitments for 20 projects. The Australian Climate Finance Partnership followed with $30.8 million for three projects. The Climate Innovation Development Fund was the third-largest source of trust fund cofinancing for the year, with $13.2 million for three projects.
The top three DMC recipients of trust fund cofinancing in 2022 were Viet Nam ($36.6 million for 11 projects), Philippines ($24.6 million for 12 projects), and India ($11.8 million for 10 projects). Trust fund commitments to projects at the regional level (more than one DMC supported) were also substantial in 2022 at $29.6 million (21 projects).
Technical assistance projects received the biggest share of trust fund cofinancing in 2022 at 40% or $70.8 million for 67 TAs. Loans and equities received the second-largest share with $65.8 cofinancing commitments for 12 projects. About $36 million financed 14 grant projects.
Projects benefiting transport ($38.1 million for 10 projects), energy ($34.5 million for 15 projects), and water and other urban infrastructure and services ($23.6 million for 16 projects) received the largest trust fund cofinancing in 2022. Together, these top three sectors received about 56% of the total project and TA commitments in 2022.
Stand-Alone Trust Funds
- Afghanistan Infrastructure Trust Fund
- Asia Pacific Project Preparation Facility
- Asia-Pacific Climate Finance Fund
- Australia Climate Finance Partnership
- Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia II
- Climate Innovation and Development Fund
- Cooperation Fund for Project Preparation in the Greater Mekong Subregion and in Other Specific Asian Countries
- Cooperation Fund for Regional Trade and Financial Security Initiative
- Domestic Resource Mobilization Trust Fund
- Financial Sector Development Partnership Fund
- Future Carbon Fund
- Gender and Development Cooperation Fund
- High-Level Technology Fund
- Ireland Trust Fund for Building Climate Change and Disaster Resilience in Small Island Developing States
- Japan Fund for Information and Communication Technology
- Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific
- Japan Fund for Public Policy Training
- Japan Fund for the Joint Crediting Mechanism
- Japan Scholarship Program
- Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund
- People's Republic of China Poverty Reduction and Regional Cooperation Fund
- Project Preparation and Implementation Support Trust Fund
- Project Readiness Improvement Trust Fund
- Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund
- Spanish Cooperation Fund for Technical Assistance
Financing Partnership Facilities
- ADB Ventures Financing Partnership Facility
- Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility
- Community Resilience Financing Partnership Facility
- Health Financing Partnership Facility
- Regional Cooperation and Integration Financing Partnership Facility
- Urban Financing Partnership Facility
- Water Financing Partnership Facility