CDIA Gets €5 Million Funding Boost from the Spanish Government

CDIA recently received a €5 million funding support from the Spanish Government, through the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, to scale up the development of inclusive, climate-resilient, and sustainable urban infrastructure projects in Asia and the Pacific.

This latest contribution to the CDIA Trust Fund will benefit at least 20 small and medium-sized cities in Bangladesh, Philippines, Viet Nam, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, India, Papua New Guinea, and Nepal. It will be programmed to develop high quality project preparation studies leading to improved water supply and sanitation, mobility, tourism, and municipal services such as health services. The funding will also be used to conduct capacity building activities.

“Cities across Asia and the Pacific are facing massive infrastructure investment gap and investors often cite the lack of investment-ready projects as a primary bottleneck for attracting financing,” said Lara Arjan, Urban Development Specialist at Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Project Officer in charge of CDIA.

“The Spanish Government’s contribution will therefore give us more leverage to prepare projects that will provide millions of people with the urban services they currently lack; at the same time build their cities’ resilience against climate change and health emergencies and ensure inclusive development,” she added.

Reflecting Spain’s priorities and in line with the CDIA Strategy 2023-2027, the new funding will support pre-feasibility studies, climate risk and vulnerability assessments, preliminary engineering design, and other project development studies.

It will also support knowledge solutions generation and capacity building activities to introduce innovative urban development solutions and ensure the sustainability of the planned infrastructure projects.

In 2008, the Spanish Government had contributed $2 million to support CDIA’s work with secondary cities in preparing bankable and sustainable infrastructure investments.

CDIA also receives funding from Austria, European Union, France, Germany, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, and ADB’s Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund.