Japan to grant scholarship of Rs 422.3 million to civil servants for their high studies

Kathmandu / Aug 28: Japan has decided to grant a scholarship of Japanese yen 454 million (estimated Nepali Rupees 422.3 million) to civil servants of Nepal for their higher studies at the universities of Japan.

Dr Ram Prasad Ghimire, the secretary of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and Kikuta Yutaka, ambassador of Japan to Nepal, exchanged notes on cooperation regarding this agreement at the Ministry of Finance today.

On the occasion, Dhani Ram Sharma, joint secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Head of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division, and Matsuzaki Mizuki, Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), signed an agreement on grant assistance.

Along with the agreement, the young civil servants of Nepal will receive a scholarship to study two years of Masters’s degree and three years of PhD in Japanese universities. On the basis of ‘merit’, interested employees will go to Japan to study there. It was informed on the occasion that 22 employees, including 20 masters’s degrees and two PhD, are set to receive scholarships this year.

Nepal has been receiving this opportunity since 2016 according to the Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) with the support of the Japanese government. So far 187 civil servants have received the scholarship.

On that occasion, Finance Secretary Ghimire expressed his belief that the scholarship program will enhance the capabilities of Nepal’s civil servants and lead to benefits for the entire country.

Ambassador Yutaka expressed his belief that the scholarship program will assist Nepal’s civil servants to be skilled. The high officials of the Ministry of Finance and JICA Nepal participated on the occasion.