The High-Level Technology Fund is a multi-donor trust fund
that provides grant financing to encourage more widespread adoption of high-level technology to address development challenges in ADB’s developing member countries (DMCs).
As of December 2021, the Government of Japan is HLT Fund’s sole donor.
Objectives of the HLT Fund
The HLT Fund seeks to:
- promote the integration of HLT and innovative solutions into ADB-financed and administered projects, and
- connect technology providers with ADB’s project officers and developing member countries to explore business opportunities for HLT integration.
Uses of the HLT Fund
The HLT Fund can be used throughout the project cycle, from identification to implementation and operation, in the form of grants to finance.
ADB officers apply for the HLT Fund when they develop the projects with DMCs. Once approved, relevant procurement information may be found in ADB’s Project and Tenders page of each of the approved projects under the HLT Fund.
In general, the maximum funding for each TA or investment project is $5 million, while the maximum funding for each direct charges activity is $150,000.
The HLT Fund also supports the Technology Innovation Challenge (TIC), which directly invites technology providers to propose a pilot or proof-of-concept of innovative solutions addressing the development challenges in our DMCs. The goal is to identify and develop an HLT project at an early stage of the project cycle in a partnership with technology firms. For more information on the TIC, please visit the Challenge page.
High-Level Technologies Supported
Under the HLT Fund, the proposed technologies or solutions have to meet one of the “characteristics of high-level technology” stated below (defined in the Implementation Guideline of the HLT Fund).
While the HLT Fund supports all the sectors in ADB’s Developing Member Countries, 5 sectors – Energy, Transport, Water, Urban, and Health – are set as the priority sectors for the HLT Fund. For those sectors, sector specific priority high-level technologies are also identified to present the focus of the year.
For more information, contact us at HLTFund@adb.org