Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund

The Republic of Korea established the e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund (EAKPF) to contribute to poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific by improving access to information and communication technology and facilitating knowledge sharing and partnerships. It covers all ADB sectors with priority on water; energy; finance (fintech); transport; education (skills and vocational training); public sector management (e-government); and health (universal health coverage, medical information system). Among these sectors and areas, projects incorporating components such as climate change and disaster risk management, and digital transformation will be preferred. The fund supports ADB technical assistance (TA) projects, grants, and investments, which contribute to project readiness, policy reforms, institutional capacity, and knowledge dissemination.

In 2023, the EAKPF committed to cofinancing TA in support of loan projects in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. Notably, ADB will administer a $1 million TA provided by the EAKPF to strengthen the capacity of the Rawalpindi Water and Sanitation Agency to address leakages in the city’s water supply network. This is part of a $180 million loan that will improve water supply and solid waste management services in two rapidly growing cities in Pakistan’s Punjab province. The EAKPF will also contribute $750,000 to a TA project that will prepare pre-feasibility studies on innovative clean energy solutions and assess the viability of accessing private capital for future project financing, including the use of carbon credits, in support of Bangladesh’s low-carbon energy transition and methane leakage loss reduction plan.