Samarkand, UZBEKISTAN — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a new financing facility to scale up investments in critical minerals-to-manufacturing value chains, as it pushes Asia-Pacific economies to move beyond raw material exports and into higher-value industries.

The announcement was made by ADB president Masato Kanda during the Manila-based multilateral lender’s 59th Annual Meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Sunday, May 3.

“Critical minerals will shape the next industrial era. Asia and the Pacific should be more than a source of raw materials. The region should also capture the jobs, technology, and value these minerals provide,” Kanda said at the launch of the facility.

The initiative, called the Critical Minerals-to-Manufacturing Financing Partnership Facility, aims to support the development of supply chains needed for clean energy, batteries, electric vehicles (EVs), and digital technologies.

Critical minerals are essential raw materials—such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel—used in clean energy technologies, electronics, and advanced manufacturing, whose supply is often vulnerable to disruption due to geographic concentration and rising global demand.

The facility is designed to help countries move beyond upstream mining into higher-value segments such as processing, manufacturing, and recycling, which are seen as key to capturing more economic benefits from the global energy transition.

“This facility is about urgency and fairness: building responsible supply chains now, so our developing member countries (DMCs) can compete in advanced manufacturing and create opportunities at home,” Kanda said.

It has two components: a grant window and a catalytic finance window.

The grant window will fund early-stage project preparation, including feasibility studies (FS), environmental and social assessments, technical assistance (TA), and knowledge-sharing. Japan has committed $20 million to this window, while the United Kingdom (UK) has pledged $1.6 million.

Meanwhile, the catalytic finance window is intended to mobilize additional funding through co-financing and risk-sharing mechanisms. Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) and Korean Trade Insurance Corp. (K-SURE) have each signed a $500-million memorandum as the facility’s first partners.

In his speech, Kanda said the initiative seeks to promote a “systemic approach” that connects the full value chain—from extraction to processing, manufacturing, and recycling—while mobilizing large-scale investments and strengthening governance frameworks.

“Critical minerals are at the heart of this transformation. They are not simply upstream inputs. They are strategic assets. They link natural resources to clean energy, to manufacturing, to jobs. And they are central to the region’s connected future,” he said.

“Asia and the Pacific is well positioned. Our region is endowed with significant mineral resources and strong industrial potential. But potential alone is not enough,” Kanda added.

He noted that many DMCs in the region remain focused on upstream extraction despite having the potential to expand into higher-value activities.

“There is significant potential to strengthen vertical integration at local and regional levels to involve processing, manufacturing, and recycling. Such integration creates jobs, attracts investments, and strengthens resilience. It also ensures that growth in one part of the value chain supports growth in others, creating development that is genuinely inclusive and mutually reinforcing,” Kanda said.

The ADB said the facility builds on its 2025 strategy to support responsible and sustainable critical minerals value chains across Asia-Pacific.

The lender noted that it is already supporting a range of initiatives in the sector, including battery manufacturing and recycling in India, geological data mapping in Mongolia, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven metals production and circular economy approaches in Uzbekistan, a national critical minerals strategy in Kazakhstan, and regulatory reforms and roadmap development in the Philippines.

The ADB has also partnered with other institutions to establish a critical minerals database to improve information sharing and policy coordination across supply chains.

For the Philippines, the initiative comes as the country seeks to move up the value chain in both semiconductors and critical minerals. Nickel is one of the country’s key mineral exports, with the Philippines consistently ranking as the world’s second-largest producer after Indonesia and serving as a major supplier for global stainless steel and battery supply chains.

Data from the government show that mineral exports reached $7.62 billion in 2025, with the Philippines accounting for more than a quarter of global nickel exports in 2024 and holding reserves estimated at 444 million metric tons (MT).

Manila Bulletin reported earlier that Washington-based think tank Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) earlier said the country has an opportunity to upgrade its industrial capabilities as it seeks to integrate more deeply into global supply chains.

While semiconductors are already the Philippines’ top export, PIIE noted that the country remains concentrated in lower-value activities such as assembly, testing, and packaging (ATP).

Investment in the planned nearly 1,619-hectare (ha), first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence AI-native industrial acceleration hub at New Clark City in Tarlac province under the United States (US)-led Pax Silica Initiative “could help move the country up the value chain with activities like integrated circuit (IC) design and wafer fabrication,” PIIE said.

PIIE also identified similar potential in the country’s critical minerals sector, noting that while the Philippines has significant reserves of cobalt, copper, chromite, and nickel, it lacks the processing and refining capacity needed to integrate these resources into high-value technology and defense supply chains.