Notes

engagements with the private sector, local and scientific communities, and civil society. Joint learning and foresight exercises with government counterparts and external experts, focusing on the human capital challenges of each country, would facilitate the safe deployment of converging technologies for the benefit of the poor in the region.

1. The total of these amounts exceeds the US$6.4 billion mentioned earlier because about

US$0.8 billion is allocated to both the build and protect pillar and the deploy and utilize pillar. 2. The time series analysis refers to a comparison of projects that were (1) approved between fiscal year 2013 and fiscal 2017; (2) approved from fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2020, pre-COVID-19; and (3) approved post-COVID-19.