How MDBs Can Accelerate Eurasian Economy: EDB Session at the NDB Annual Meeting
May 14, 2026, on the sidelines of the New Development Bank's Annual Meeting, the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) organised a seminar entitled How MDBs Can Finance Innovation. This event brought together high-level representatives of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB, Saudi Arabia), Peking University (PKU, Beijing), the Multilateral Cooperation Centre for Development Finance (MCDF, Beijing), and the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG, India). The session was moderated by Evgeny Vinokurov, Vice Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Economist of the EDB. Maria Prozorova, Managing Director – First Deputy Head of the Project Block at the EDB, also spoke at the session.
Over the past decades, Eurasian countries have demonstrated significant progress: the economies of EDB member states have grown by an average of 3.6% per year, while those of Central Asian countries have grown by around 6% per year, outpacing global indicators. Further development requires a transition to a more complex model of economic growth based on innovation, industry and human capital.
Innovation has already become a cross-cutting element in all areas of activity of multilateral development banks (MDBs), from infrastructure to energy and healthcare. In this context, the role of MDBs is being re-conceptualised.
The discussion was structured around three ideas proposed by the EDB:
- Strengthening innovation environment through grants and technical assistance. The "ground" for innovation is the development of institutions, regulation, and interaction between science and businesses.
- Financing high-tech industry. Supporting high-value-added industries (mechanical engineering, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural processing), where innovations are born and scaled up, and the human capital necessary for innovative development is created.
- Developing a new type of infrastructure. This includes investments in AI-optimized data centres, digital platforms, and advanced telecommunications. These are capital-intensive projects. In developing countries, MDBs can play a catalytic role, as detailed in a report on the EDB website.
The speakers emphasized that to effectively finance innovation, development banks need to go beyond traditional lending and actively utilise co-financing mechanisms and venture debt financing instruments, as well as invest in company equity.
The participants noted the importance of MDBs tackling the high-risk projects and the role of industry experts in MDBs' activities.
The discussion also focused on promising technology waves that multilateral development banks should consider. In particular, according to the EDB, the biotechnology market, currently valued at US $2 trillion, could grow to US $6 trillion by the mid-2030s, becoming one of the key drivers of global growth.
Evgeny Vinokurov emphasized:
"The world is entering a new phase of technological transformation, where AI, biotechnology, robotics, and several other high-tech areas are becoming growth drivers. But innovation doesn't happen in a vacuum. It needs infrastructure, institutions and long-term financing. Multilateral development banks can play a systemic role here: they can create the conditions under which new technologies are transformed into real sectors of economy, and do it not by replacing venture capital, but through investments in industry and infrastructure".
Maria Prozorova noted:
" Innovation helps developing countries unlock their economic potential. The best way is to finance industrial projects, and technical assistance can multiply this effect. Industry is a driver of growth and integration. That is why it accounts for almost 40% of the EDB's investment portfolio".
The seminar served as a platform for exchanging experiences and promising ideas, as well as for building pragmatic approaches to MDBs active engagement in financing innovation. This is necessary for developing countries to move towards more complex models of economic growth based on innovation.
You can watch the video of the event by following this link.
Additional Information:
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is a multilateral development bank investing in Eurasia. For more than 20 years, the Bank has worked to strengthen and expand economic ties and foster comprehensive development in its member countries. By the end of December 2025, the EDB’s cumulative portfolio comprised 326 projects with a total investment of US $19.6 billion. The Bank's portfolio consists principally of projects with an integration effect in transport infrastructure, digital systems, green energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and mechanical engineering. The Bank’s operations are guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals and ESG principles.
As part of its 2022–2026 Strategy, the EDB is implementing 3 mega-projects: The Water and Energy Complex of Central Asia, The Eurasian Transport Network, and The Eurasian Commodity Distribution Network.
The EDB Media Centre:
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