Every morning, a farmer in rural Uzbekistan plans his day around the condition of local roads. Outside Delhi, commuters and freight operators lose hours navigating congested rail lines. Along Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, port workers are preparing for a new terminal that will reshape trade flows for decades.
These experiences reflect different scales of connectivity. But they share a common truth: Infrastructure is not simply about physical assets, it is about how people, markets and economies interact with one another in current dynamic world.
Under the revised corporate strategy, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) positions connectivity and regional cooperation as a core pathway to deliver sustainable growth, economic resilience and shared prosperity. By 2030, such projects are expected to account for 25%-30% of the Bank’s total financing approvals.
The examples below illustrate how connectivity translates into tangible impact across different contexts.
AIIB’s first project in Uzbekistan, the Rural Infrastructure Development Project, approved in 2019, demonstrates how community-driven investments lay the foundation for broader economic integration and social inclusion, underscoring the importance of building connectivity at the local level. By enabling residents to identify and prioritize their most pressing needs through participatory planning cycles, the project ensures investments respond directly to community priorities and daily realities.
Implemented in partnership with the World Bank, the project has improved access to basic infrastructure and services for nearly 1 million people, almost half of them women, in 306 villages across the country. Through strengthened local governance and community investment planning, hundreds of sub-projects have been delivered, including drinking water systems, irrigation and wastewater infrastructure, street and local road upgrades, as well as village school developments and improvements to primary healthcare facilities.
For communities, these upgrades mean less time spent accessing basic services and greater opportunities for work, education and family life. Around 100,000 people have gained access to centralized drinking water for the first time, illustrating how local infrastructure forms a key link in the broader chain of connectivity that delivers inclusive development outcomes.
In India’s National Capital Region, home to nearly 35 million people, congestion suppresses productivity, raises logistics costs and undermines reliability for both passengers and freight.
The Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor project addresses these challenges by diverting non-essential traffic away from Delhi, relieving pressure on the capital’s overstretched rail system while connecting industrial and logistics hubs across Haryana. Aligned with India’s National Rail Plan 2030, the project reflects a forward-looking approach: building capacity ahead of demand rather than reacting to congestion after it emerges.
Beyond its transport benefits, the project is expected to generate substantial socio-economic impact by creating employment opportunities for local communities during construction and supporting longer-term economic growth through improved connectivity to nearby logistic hubs and industrial clusters.
By boosting rail efficiency and reliability, the corridor strengthens regional supply chains, cuts journey times, and enhances economic competitiveness. The project demonstrates how CRC investments can integrate local economies into broader regional systems, laying the groundwork for growth that endures.
On Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, the Damietta Port – Container Terminal II project exemplifies how strategic maritime infrastructure complements inland connectivity. Positioned along major trade routes linking Europe, the Black Sea, the Middle East and Asia, the new terminal will add up to 3.3 million TEUs of annual container-handling capacity, reducing bottlenecks and improving logistics performance, strengthening supply-chain resilience and enhancing Egypt’s role as a regional logistics hub.
Developed under a 30-year concession agreement and supported by a USD455 million international co-financing package, the project mobilizes private capital and global expertise to deliver infrastructure with lasting impact. The project is expected to create around 2,200 direct and indirect jobs, translating connectivity into a source of real economic opportunities for the communities surrounding it. Commercial operations at the South Quay began in February 2026 while construction works continue at the North Quay.
These investments reflect a coherent logic: connectivity delivers its greatest impact when planned and implemented as an integrated system.
As AIIB advances our mission to finance Infrastructure for Tomorrow, we are placing emphasis on development outcomes rather than solely on individual infrastructure assets. The objective is to support systems that strengthen regional trade, improve resilience and foster inclusive economic growth.
Achieving these ambitions will require sustained collaboration among members, development institutions and private-sector partners to ensure that connectivity infrastructure operates as an integrated ecosystem capable of delivering long-term impact across Asia and beyond.
