opinionAsian nations must spend $26 trillion by 2030 on infrastructure to battle poverty, boost economic growth and fight climate change, the Asian Development Bank warned on Tuesday. It added that despite dramatic infrastructure growth in recent decades, more than 400 million people have no access to electricity, 300 million lack safe drinking water and around 1.5 billion are without basic sanitation. “The demand for infrastructure across Asia and the Pacific far outstrips current supply,” ADB President Takehiko Nakao said in a statement released alongside the report. “Asia needs new and upgraded infrastructure that will set the standard for quality, encourage economic growth, and respond to the pressing global challenge that is climate change,” Nakao said. But it said a substantial infrastructure gap still remains in the 45 countries included in the report.

Source: Sunday Times February 28, 2017 12:50 UTC