The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a five-year strategy to help 12 Pacific island countries strengthen their resilience and expand economic opportunities, with investment priorities covering jobs, essential services and infrastructure suited to small, widely dispersed populations.
The Pacific Approach, 2026–2030 will guide partnerships with the Cook Islands, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Naoero, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. It responds to circumstances that make development particularly demanding across the region: high exposure to climate-related disasters, expensive service delivery and limited institutional capacity.
Adapting projects to the realities of island life
The strategy introduces greater flexibility in how ADB prepares and delivers projects, recognising that countries across the Pacific need approaches shaped around their individual circumstances. “Pacific countries face development challenges that cannot be addressed through a one-size-fits-all approach,” said Emma Veve, ADB Director General for the Pacific.
Veve said the bank would adapt its working practices and delivery arrangements to smaller, dispersed economies and concentrate resources where it could provide sustained value.
Regional cooperation will play a role where countries can tackle shared problems together, strengthen institutions and achieve economies of scale. The approach combines that cooperation with closer attention to the conditions in each country, giving governments more room to pursue solutions that fit their needs.
Connecting economic opportunities with stronger communities
Expanding economic opportunities is one of three interconnected priorities. ADB will support better management of public resources, stronger links with regional and global markets, and improvements in trade, finance and investment.
The strategy includes improving business environments so private companies can invest and create jobs, connecting economic reforms with opportunities for people and businesses.
A second priority focuses on thriving communities through better access to healthcare, education and other essential services. Stronger social protection, skills development and economic opportunities will support households, with particular attention to vulnerable people who need help withstanding and recovering from shocks.
These investments recognise that economic resilience depends on both functioning institutions and communities having access to services and support when circumstances become difficult.
Building infrastructure that countries can sustain
The third priority covers sustainable infrastructure, including clean energy, transport connections and urban and municipal services. Planned areas of support include water supply, solid waste management and urban roads, alongside transport systems linking people with communities, services and markets.
ADB will apply the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Principles, giving attention to local content, value for money throughout an asset’s life, climate resilience, effective governance and safeguards. Appropriate private investment will form part of that approach.
Keeping infrastructure operational is a central concern. Across its portfolio, the bank will strengthen project preparation and delivery, support sustained capacity development and use implementation arrangements suited to local conditions. It will make realistic provision for operation and maintenance, helping countries account for the resources needed after construction ends.
Longer-term programmes will bring together financing, policy reform, stronger institutions and workforce development, supporting the people and systems responsible for keeping services running.
The strategy builds on a substantial expansion in ADB’s work across the 12 countries. Its active portfolio reached $1.9 billion across 80 projects at the end of 2025, compared with $454 million across 35 projects a decade earlier.
Partnerships with Pacific governments and development organisations will help mobilise expertise and resources for priorities led by Pacific countries, shaping how the new strategy moves from planning into delivery.
