MANILA — World Bank Group President Ajay Banga and Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda today announced the first two Pacific projects to be delivered under the Full Mutual Reliance Framework, an innovative cofinancing model that will boost development impact.
The framework will allow countries to work with a single lead lender, either ADB or the World Bank, guiding all aspects of project design, preparation, supervision, and evaluation. It will streamline processes and reduce duplication between the two institutions. Countries will benefit from faster project implementation, lower transaction costs, and continued adherence to high policy standards. The first two projects under the framework are a major health modernization initiative in Fiji and an integrated transport, urban, and water infrastructure investment in Tonga.
“Our goal is to make development finance simpler, faster, and more effective,” said ADB President Masato Kanda. “With this approach, we respond to client needs to solve complex challenges together, from disaster resilience to better connectivity, while supporting their long-term vision for prosperity.”
We pursued this framework for one core reason: our clients asked us to make their lives easier. To work faster. To be better partners,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. “This is an important step forward—for our institutions, yes, but far more importantly, for the countries and communities who count on us to deliver real results.”
The operationalization of the framework in the Pacific reflects the already close partnership between ADB and the World Bank Group in the region, and responds to the needs of client countries for more rapid, streamlined, and effective development financing.
The $236.5 million Pacific Healthy Islands Transformation (PHIT) project, led by the World Bank, aims to tackle non-communicable diseases, which are among the leading causes of death across Pacific Island Countries. The project will mark the largest single operation of the World Bank Group in the Pacific.
In Fiji, the project will modernize primary healthcare networks and support a new, state-of-the-art regional hospital, giving people across the Pacific greater access to treatment for cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other major health conditions. The World Bank Board has approved its financing for this project. ADB’s proposed cofinancing will be presented to its Board for consideration in early 2026.
The second, ADB-led project, the Tonga Sustainable Economic Corridors and Urban Resilience (SECURE) project, was approved by its Board of Directors on 20 November 2025. With ADB and the World Bank expected to provide a combined total of $120 million in grant financing, SECURE will be the largest development partner financed project undertaken in Tonga’s history.
The project will make transformational infrastructure upgrades to Greater Nuku’alofa’s transport network and urban drainage systems, including the 720-meter long Fanga’uta lagoon bridge. These investments will reduce traffic congestion, improving market access for rural residents and enhancing connectivity to essential infrastructure including the airport and the port. They will also provide secure evacuation routes during disaster events, including tsunamis. World Bank cofinancing will be presented to its Board in early 2026.
