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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) are part of a growing group of multilateral development banks that are increasingly working with private sector investors as part of their balance sheet management strategies to optimise capital and share risk.

The group effort to channel private capital into emerging markets via development banks is intended to address two simultaneous challenges — development and infrastructure financing needs are expanding at a time when public-sector development finance budgets are being tightened.

The topic is certainly gaining the attention of people in high places. On Wednesday, King Charles III hosted a roundtable on private capital mobilisation at St James’s Palace in London, organised by the Sustainable Markets Initiative.

"It was an honour to discuss these issues, under the leadership of His Majesty, in particular innovative solutions and actions to unlock private capital mobilisation towards sustainable development,” said Masato Kanda, the president of the ADB, in a statement.

The ADB is well-placed to shape the agenda for 2026 as chair of the Heads of MDBs Group, a rotating role that the Manila-based organisation assumed in December.

“The question isn’t whether MDBs should mobilise private capital — it’s how to do so responsibly,” Roberta Casali, vice president for finance and risk management at ADB, told 9fin.