Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Government of Nepal (GoN) have signed the Grant Agreement for “The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS)” for Fiscal Year 2025.

The agreement, valued at 572 million Japanese Yen (JPY 572,000,000), was signed today, reaffirming the commitment of both governments for enhancing the capacity of Nepal’s civil service through advanced education. Government of Japan (GoJ) has been providing this scholarship continuously since 2016.

The Exchange of Notes regarding the assistance was signed by Ghanashyam Upadhaya, Secretary, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the GoN and MAEDA Toru, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal on behalf of the GoJ.

Similarly, the Grant Agreement was signed by Dhani Ram Sharma, Joint Secretary, International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division (IECCD), Ministry of Finance on behalf of GoN and MATSUZAKI Mizuki, Chief Representative of JICA Nepal Office.

Each year, the scholarship offers 20 seats for two-year master’s degree course (since 2016) and 2 seats for three-year Doctoral level course (since 2019) to in the reputed universities of Japan.

These scholarships enable participants to study at prestigious Japanese universities, enhancing their expertise in fields such as judiciary, economic policy etc., while also expanding their global professional networks.Since 2016, 209 civil servants have been awarded scholarship through the JDS Grant Aid program.

The JDS program aims to bolster the administrative capacities of young and promising civil servants with advanced skills to become future leaders. They are expected to contribute significantly to Nepal’s social and economic development in the new federal structureby actively engaging in nationalpolicy formulation and implementation of social and economic development policies when they complete the program and return to their home country.

During the occasion, MATSUZAKI Mizuki, Chief Representative of JICA Nepal Office, emphasizedJICA’scommitment to strengthen human resource in Nepal.