Asia Pacific Project Preparation Facility

The Asia Pacific Project Preparation Facility (AP3F) is a multi-donor trust fund aiming to increase the level of infrastructure development and enhance the quality of infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific. It primarily aims to assist developing member country governments and their public sector agencies in preparing and structuring infrastructure projects with private sector participation, including privatization through public–private partnership modalities, and bringing them to the global market. It also provides capacity-related assistance; promoting and strengthening legislative, regulatory, and institutional reform; and project monitoring and restructuring.

In 2023, the AP3F welcomed the Republic of Korea as a new financing partner during the signing of a grant agreement, enabling the country to contribute $5 million to the facility. The facility bolstered engagement in key thematic areas: tackling climate change, promoting gender equality, facilitating the integration of advanced digital technologies in infrastructure, and strengthening its support in the Pacific. By pushing the thematic agenda forward, the AP3F is delivering quality infrastructure that is bankable to the project developers and investors in the private sector.

In the first half of 2023, the AP3F held various workshops on the digitalization of public–private partnership (PPP) or infrastructure technology in collaboration with ADB and external partners. In November 2023, as part of AP3F’s Gender Strategy, a Tool Kit for Promoting Gender Equality in Public–Private Partnerships was launched online during ADB’s Gender Week. The Tool Kit reflects AP3F’s ambition to generate new knowledge products to showcase AP3F’s expertise and maximize the positive development impact of PPPs.

The AP3F is also actively conducting market outreach to involve key stakeholders in the PPP projects it advises. In November 2023, the AP3F team participated in a cross-Canada roadshow organized by the Trade Commissioner Service of Canada to present business opportunities to Canadian companies that are generated through AP3F’s advisory service activities. Following the roadshows in Canada, AP3F also held an outreach event for investors and other stakeholders in Tokyo to encourage participation in the PPP projects in Asia and the Pacific.