BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 24. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a project focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen infrastructure resilience and support adaptation, with Azerbaijan among the participating countries.
The project involves ADB member countries, including Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan and other countries across the Asia-Pacific region.
According to the ADB, the project has been allocated $800,000 in funding from the Technical Assistance Special Fund.
The project is also aimed at strengthening the capacity of ADB developing member countries to identify, assess and reduce disaster-related risks. Its implementation is expected to indirectly help protect poor and vulnerable populations, which are disproportionately affected by the consequences of natural and other disasters.
The initiative will use AI capabilities to strengthen infrastructure resilience and improve approaches to risk adaptation, the bank said.
According to ADB data, Azerbaijan received $2.53 billion in sovereign financing for 10 projects from 2015 to 2024. Of this amount, 51% was allocated to regional cooperation and integration projects, one of the highest shares among countries in the relevant group. Another 39% went toward private-sector development, 18% toward climate financing and 10% toward digital technology initiatives.
From 2015 to 2024, the bank approved nine nonsovereign projects totaling $963.9 million, with 100% of the financing directed toward private-sector development. Notably, 78% of total commitments were related to regional cooperation and integration, the highest share among comparable upper-middle-income countries reviewed by the ADB.
According to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, ADB's direct investment in Azerbaijan's economy amounted to $2.075 million in the first quarter of this year. The figure was $455,000, or 28.1%, higher than in the same period last year.
