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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday urged Southeast Asian (SEA) countries, including the Philippines, to expand their investments in digital infrastructure and ensure equitable access to technology as they recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
“We must close the digital divide and expand existing investments in digital infrastructure by building more and higher quality mobile broadband infrastructure, and ensuring affordable Internet access and coverage,” ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said during the first Southeast Asian development of the Manila-based multilateral lender. Symposium.
“These steps can also improve access to basic social services, such as health and education, and access to financial services. These investments will better equip countries to address worsening income inequality and disparities in opportunities caused by the pandemic, ”he added.
Asakawa emphasized the importance of digital technology in the ADB’s Covid-19 response, citing as an example his institution’s provision of “grants to deliver food to 162,000 households” in partnership with the government and the private sector in April, when Metro Manila was under community quarantine enhancement.
“Our use of mobile technology facilitated [the] Rapid procurement and payment of supplies, which increased the efficiency of our operations, ”he said.
The ADB chief also said that Southeast Asian countries should focus on five key policy areas that can support their return to the path of sustainable growth.
“These measures can help countries return to a path that leads to achieving [United Nations’] Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Once again, I firmly believe that digital technology will play an indispensable role, “he added.
These measures address regional disparities and ensure more equitable access to technology, including expanding investments in digital infrastructure to bridge the digital divide and address cybersecurity; facilitate a green and resilient recovery by promoting investments that drive economic activity towards low carbon and resilient practices; and the strengthening of regional cooperation and integration by improving cross-border digital connectivity, electronic customs systems and electronic cargo tracking systems.
Asakawa said economies should also deepen institutional capacity to mobilize domestic resources to finance public services and ensure debt sustainability; and incubate, develop and bring together small and medium enterprises with entrepreneurship and technology, supported by an aggregated financial, academic and business ecosystem to
help set the stage for technology-based growth.
“To support these efforts, [the] ADB established ADB Ventures in January of this year. I believe ADB Ventures will help tech startups in Southeast Asia scale and implement their technology solutions in the key policy areas that I have highlighted today, ”he added.
ADB Ventures is a platform that aims to support and invest in startups that offer impact technology solutions that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs in Asia and the Pacific.
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