Yuzo Yoshioka, Charge d’Affairs a.i. of Japan to Nepal said that JDS program is important for the country like Nepal which is in the process of development . "To development of a country is a comprehensive process and it is not just building infrastructure, inviting foreign investment, or introducing new laws," said Charge d' Affairs.

Addressing a program to bid farewell to 20 Nepalese civil servants selected for the fourth batch of JDS, Charge d’Affairs said that the core of the development of a country, there must be people who can implement and coordinate policies and without them, a country cannot develop.

He hosted a luncheon to bid farewell to 20 Nepalese Government officials who are selected for JDS Scholarship Awardees for 2019 at the Official Residence of the Ambassador of Japan, Tahachal.

"This s program has been expanded to 15 countries and 4 ,270 fellows have been sent to Japan so far. Nepal was included into this program in 2016 and 60 Nepali fellows have been sent to study in Japan in the master courses of economic and industrial policy, human resource capacity building, international relations, and legal systems," said Yuzo Yoshioka, Charge d’Affairs a.i. of Japan to Nepal.

"I feel a personal attachment to this year 's fellows because I myself was involved in the selection process. I had discussions with professors from Japanese universities which are accepting the fellows. I also had three days of interviews with the candidates and meetings with colleagues from the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration," said Yuzo Yoshioka, Charge d’Affairs a.i. of Japan.

"Through these experiences, I realized how talented Nepali bureaucrats are no matter whether they were chosen or not for a scholarship. They have a clear vision on how to reform the country and their explanations were convincing. So it was very difficult for us to choose who was to go to Japan."

Japan Extends Grant Aid for the Scholarships to Government Officers and for the Implementation of the School Sector Development Program last month. Under the program Japan extended Grant Assistance up to two hundred and fifty million Japanese Yen (¥250,000,000), or equivalent to 254.7 million Nepali Rupees and three hundred and seventy eight million Japanese Yen (¥378,000,000), or equivalent to 385.2 million Nepali Rupees for the implementation of JDS Phase I and Phase II respectively.

During the program Yumiko Asakuma Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA Nepal) also thanked the new

Assistant secretary of the International Economic Cooperation and Coordination Division (IECCD) of the Ministry of Finance, Haris Chandra Dhakal thanked government Japan for providing support to strengthen the capacity of Nepal's civil service.

The JDS Project Grant is designed to support human resource development of friendly nations through accepting highly capable, energetic, and young government officials into Japanese universities and strengthening the partnership between recipient countries and Japan by utilizing human relation chains to address future global needs. Phase I of JDS is in the final completion stage under which sixty Nepali government officers have already been dispatched while twenty are in the process of pursing their studies in Japanese universities. In the meantime, Phase II of JDS is in the implementation process with the addition of an infrastructure development component and doctoral degree program as per the request of the Government of Nepal.

About JDS Scholarship

Japanese Grant Aid for human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) was established by the Government of Nepal with the assistance of the Government of Japan in 2015. JDS is funded by the Government of Japan through ODA (Official Development Assistance) supported by Japanese tax payers.

The JDS Grant is designed to support human resource development of friendly nations through accepting highly capable, energetic, and young government officials in designated Japanese universities as JDS fellows. These officials are then expected to engage in formulation and implementation of socio-economic development plans and programs, and are also expected to be future leaders or engines for development in their respective countries. Another objective of the JDS Scheme is to strengthen partnerships between recipient countries and Japan by utilizing human relation chains to address future global needs.

Phase I of JDS is in the final completion stage under which sixty Nepali government officers have already been dispatched while twenty are in the process of pursing their studies in Japanese universities. In the meantime, Phase II of JDS is in the implementation process with the addition of an infrastructure development component and doctoral degree program as per the request of the Government of Nepal.