09-09-2025 
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In line with efforts to adopt emerging technologies to realize its climate goals, Turkey has signed a $200 million financing agreement with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, while the Asia Development Bank (ADB) has introduced a new tool powered by artificial intelligence (AI) in improving plastic chains.
- Turkey fights for greener economy under $200M funding
- Leveraging emerging tech vs climate change
- Digitizing plastic economies
- ADB reinforces efforts in AI integration
According to a report, the Development and Investment Bank of Turkey (TKYB) will receive $200 million in funding from the AIIB to power climate action initiatives. The loan has a maturity tenure of 15 years, with the Turkish Treasury and Finance Ministry guaranteeing repayment within the window.
Turkish authorities are eyeing the upsides of a lengthy duration and low interest rates amid a frenetic push to tackle climate change. Top brass at the TKYB noted that the capital injection will offer long-term backing for Turkey’s leap toward a greener economy with emerging technology at the core.
“This loan will provide long-term financing for green energy investments, helping industrial companies improve energy efficiency and gain a competitive advantage on a global scale,” said TKYB CEO Ibrahim Oztop.
While not expressly stated, Oztop’s comments hinted toward the disbursement of funds for Turkish enterprises making efforts to achieve climate resilience. Furthermore, the TKYB CEO suggests that a portion of the fund may be earmarked to fund digital infrastructure projects.
The latest deal between the TKYB and AIIB is the fourth collaboration between the two development banks. Since the start of the decade, Turkey has received $800 million in funding from the AIIB alone while the TKYB continues to pursue international partnerships.
Kim-See Lim, AIIB’s chief investment officer, described the $200 million funding as reflecting the institution’s stance in supporting national climate objectives for member states. Last year, the Beijing-based bank issued a $300 million digital bond with proceeds earmarked for renewable energy and other eco-friendly projects.
Saving the planet with emerging technologies
Meanwhile, Turkey has made progress in integrating emerging technologies. The country has made significant forays into a national digital ID while unveiling an AI-powered tool for terrorism classification.
Keen to meet their climate goals, countries are adopting AI and other next-gen technologies for monitoring and predicting weather changes. India has taken the bold leap to leverage AI for climate change mitigation, while an Australia-based charity has begun exploring avenues to protect the Daintree rainforest with AI.
However, experts have warned that AI chip manufacturing has shown potential for delaying climate progress in East Asia. The United Nations and other global agencies are raising concerns over the electricity consumption of data centers and distributed ledger technologies.Measuring maturity levels of plastic economies
Elsewhere, the ADB has rolled out a digital maturity assessment tool to gauge countries’ readiness to embrace digitization for their local plastic value chains.
According to a report, the ADB is collaborating with Seureca and DT Global to launch the first-of-its-kind tool in an attempt to support the building of local circular plastic economies. The private banking company noted that digitization with emerging technologies will play a significant role in ranking countries on the continent.
Countries with robust integrations of artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile apps are more likely to rank higher than others. However, the ADB analysts revealed that “national enablers” such as government policies, financial inclusion, and digital literacy are important metrics for measuring maturity levels.
The tool measures readiness across five verticals, with plastics reporting and monitoring at the top of the pile. Furthermore, the tool gauges the physical supply chain, the financial supply chain, and the skills and awareness of sector players.
Finally, the ADB’s digital maturity assessment tool measures plastic pollution identification and monitoring standards in each country. Countries are ranked on a five-tier scale, with “pioneering” countries at the top incorporating emerging technologies across the value chain.
Nations with low digital adoption metrics are typically ranked in the “initiating” stage, while nations with considerable progress sit in the “enabling” and “integrating” stages. However, the ADB disclosed that the ranking is not designed to pit countries against each other but to serve as a diagnostic tool for governments to launch blueprints to improve local plastic chains.
The ADB’s report shined a spotlight on the plastics value chains of Indonesia and Vietnam, two countries with lofty digital ambitions. Despite flashes of brilliance in key metrics, both nations scored low on plastics reporting and monitoring, with smaller ecosystem players lagging in terms of digital adoption.
Analysts have argued for a central database for plastics monitoring and training programs for informal waste collectors in both nations. Furthermore, the report advocates for national action plans while urging Asian countries to contribute to the development of an international treaty on plastics.
ADB is championing emerging technologies in the region
In line with its objectives to jolt digitization on the continent, the ADB is backing AI integration in key sectors to address a slew of economic challenges. ADB-backed chatbots for domestic violence survivors racked instant success, while administrative use cases of the technology continue to rise in Southeast Asia.
In the first quarter of 2025, the development bank approved a $125 million loan for Uzbekistan to overhaul the national water system with AI and Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Outside of AI, the ADB has dabbled with cross-border bond settlement using distributed ledgers as the base layers.
Watch: Improving supply chain traceability with UNISOT’s Stephan Nilsson
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