The Chairman of CDP attends the 58th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank: two memoranda of understanding signed with ADB and Indonesia’s PLN
Boost cooperation in order to define initiatives and projects focused on climate change, food, natural resource management, protection of biodiversity and the promotion of the energy transition in areas of the world with high potential for socio-economic development.
These are the objectives of the two memoranda of understanding signed on 4 May in Milan by the Chairman of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Giovanni Gorno Tempini, and the Director of International Cooperation & Development Finance, Paolo Lombardo, with leading public and private partners in the Asia-Pacific region. The agreements were signed during the 58th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) held from 4 to 7 May, which was attended by finance ministers, central bank governors and senior officials from the ADB’s 69 member countries.
Specifically, the Chairman of CDP, Giovanni Gorno Tempini, and ADB Vice-Chair Roberta Casali signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank to define co-financing arrangements for initiatives of common interest in partner countries, with a view to tackling climate change, promoting sustainability in food systems and natural resource management, supporting biodiversity protection and the blue economy, and reducing social inequalities. Consideration will also be given to actions in other areas such as regional cooperation and integration, social development, financial and business inclusion, contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the mobilisation of private-sector financing.
A second memorandum of understanding was signed by the Director of International Cooperation & Development Finance at CDP, Paolo Lombardo, and Maya Rani Puspita, Executive Vice President of Corporate Finance at PT PLN (Persero), Indonesia’s national electricity company, which is active in power generation, transmission and distribution and in the implementation of local energy policies. The agreement aims to launch a process of scouting projects promoted by PLN in Indonesia related to the energy transition, including within the framework of Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs), in order to identify financing opportunities for energy transition projects in Indonesia and develop joint initiatives to foster collaboration between PLN and Italian companies in the energy sector in line with the areas of excellence of Italy’s business ecosystem.
Over the course of the three-day event, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti organised two events in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF): the first on “Country Platforms for Sustainable Development: Scaling up finance for just transition, inclusive growth and adaptation in Asia and beyond”, held on Sunday, 4 May, featured opening remarks by CDP’s chairman Giovanni Gorno Tempini and Roberta Casali, Vice President of ADB, and included the participation of representatives of public development banks and development finance institutions (DFIs) from Europe, Asia and other regions of the world. The event provided an opportunity to discuss how to promote investment in sustainable development and the energy transition and strategic collaborations between financial institutions and development banks in Asia and Europe, encouraging operational synergies and international partnerships through country platforms in Asia and globally.
The second meeting, “Doing business in Asia: opportunities and success stories from Italy”, organised for Monday, 5 May in collaboration with MEF and ICE and chaired by the Undersecretary of the Economy, Lucia Albano, and ADB Vice President Roberta Casali, focused on the tools made available by Italian institutions to support the international expansion of businesses in the Asia-Pacific region, and featured a dialogue between the Chairman of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Bhargav Dasgupta, Vice President for Market Solutions at ADB. During the event concrete examples were also presented of Italian companies that are already active in the region and involved in programmes financed by ADB.
This series of initiatives and agreements represents an important opportunity for CDP to strengthen international relations with the Asia-Pacific region – a key area for global economic dynamics – and to promote sustainable development through strategic collaborations and new investment channels.