AVPN Global Conference 2026 opens in Delhi, calls for Asia-led solutions and coordinated capital

NEW DELHI – The AVPN Global Conference 2026 opened yesterday at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, India, marking the first time in its 13-year history that the Conference is being held in the country. This signature convening takes place as AVPN enters its 15th year of moving capital towards impact for Asia, underscoring the organisation’s strategic evolution and its call for Asia leaders to shift from participation to leadership in advancing Asia-led solutions.

This year’s edition brings together close to 2,000 of the region’s most influential funders, investors, corporates, policymakers and changemakers to shape practical and scalable pathways for inclusive growth. A Special Address titled “Advancing India’s Health Agenda” was delivered by Anupriya Patel, Honourable Minister of State & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers, who spoke on how India can translate its health ambitions into actionable, inclusive strategies.

Distinguished speakers of the Conference include Ajay Piramal (Chairman, Piramal Group), Boon Heong Ng (Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, Temasek Foundation), Budi Gunadi Sadikin (Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia), Professor Larry Kramer (President & Vice-chancellor, London School of Economics & Political Science), Neerja Birla (Founder & Chairperson, Aditya Birla Education Trust), Piyush Gupta (Chairman, Singapore Management University) and Tony Tan (Executive Director, CapitaLand Hope Foundation).


The Conference reflects AVPN’s role as Asia’s largest platform for social impact, where more than 700 resource providers, innovators and intermediaries from across 43 markets collaborate to mobilise capital for a more prosperous and inclusive Asia.

“India has a growing role in Asia's impact story, and is no longer simply a destination for impact capital,” said Achal Agarwal, Chair at AVPN. “It is fast becoming a source of ideas, innovation and solutions that will shape Asia's future. Hosting our Global Conference here for the first time reflects that shift. This is a strategic choice: New Delhi gives us a two-way bridge, a platform for the rest of Asia to bring forward investment-ready ideas, and for innovations emerging from India to shape solutions across the region.”

Asia is confronting a USD 26-trillion financing need through 2030 to maintain growth, eradicate poverty and respond to climate change, alongside a USD 1.5-trillion annual SDG financing gap that demands more coordinated capital. The urgency is reflected in this year’s Conference theme, “A Blueprint for Action in Asia”, which focuses on how leadership is exercised in and for the region through collaboration, mobilising capital, and pursuing innovative financing approaches that create opportunities for communities and markets alike. The Conference is designed to move the ecosystem from fragmented efforts to coordinated action, positioning AVPN as the connective tissue that allows capital to amplify impact in Asia.

Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO at AVPN., said in a statement, “In a year like this, our biggest breakthrough will not come from any single funder, instrument or initiative. It will come from how bravely we choose to work together. We need an ecosystem where philanthropists, investors, corporates, governments and innovators see themselves not as separate actors, but as co-owners of shared outcomes. That is what the Conference is here to build, partnerships that translate intent into coordinated action, and capital that moves in ways that honour the realities of our communities. If we can do that, Asia will not just respond to this moment; we will redefine what effective, collaborative impact looks like for Asia.”

Over three days, the Conference will feature stakeholders across sectors participating in wide-ranging discussions and robust sessions centered around themes like blended finance, health impact, gender equality, economic inclusion and climate action. The conference will also spotlight dynamic cross-cutting levers such as AI, policy, impact investing and faith-based giving, which AVPN is harnessing to unlock new forms of capital and innovation for Asia.

The conference will conclude with an Impact Investing Day focused on actionable capital flows. It will bring together leading investors, fund managers, limited partners, general partners, philanthropists and ecosystem leaders to explore how the full continuum of capital, from grants to debt and equity, can be intentionally aligned to move solutions from innovation to scale. By convening unlikely allies and catalysing coalitions, AVPN aims to foster shared accountability among partners across sectors, enabling them to converge around collective outcomes.

Key highlights of the Opening Day of the AVPN Global Conference 2026 include:

Towards a More Cohesive Asia: Harmony in Diversity Fund Grantee Announcement. Southeast Asia’s rich diversity fuels creativity, resilience, and innovation, yet sustaining harmony across communities requires continuous collaboration and locally rooted leadership. The Harmony in Diversity Fund mobilises capital to support initiatives that strengthen harmony and intercultural understanding. In this session, meet the first cohort of community-based organisations from across the region to benefit from the Fund.

Maharashtra Climate Investment Programme: From Pipeline to Deal. The Government of Maharashtra and AVPN unveiled a USD 1 billion climate investment pipeline, bringing together investment-ready opportunities across clean transport, industrial decarbonisation, renewable energy and climate-smart agriculture. The announcement also marked the programme’s move from pipeline to deployment, with the first freight electrification transaction on the JNPA corridor and plans for a catalytic fund to help unlock private capital at scale.

Nexa Lighthouse. As climate change increasingly affects health outcomes across Asia, there is growing momentum to strengthen collaboration across climate, health, philanthropy, and innovation. This emerging regional platform is designed to connect capital, knowledge, and partnerships with locally led solutions addressing urgent climate-related health risks.

A Regional Reckoning: Eliminating Tuberculosis in Asia. Asia bears the heaviest burden of tuberculosis globally, yet the policy ambition to match that scale remains uneven. Naina Subberwa Batra (AVPN CEO) was joined by Punya Salila Srivastava (Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India), Mark Suzman (CEO, Gates Foundation) and Boon Heong Ng (Executive Director & CEO, Temasek Foundation) on how the end of tuberculosis is a political choice, and how governments and policymakers can make this choice.