The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) was initiated in year 2010 in supporting the capacity development of young officials of the Government of Sri Lanka by providing diverse opportunities to study at reputed Japanese Universities.
A Grant Agreement was concluded for an amount of 282 million Japanese Yen, approximately 739 Sri Lankan Rupees between the Secretary to Ministry of Finance, K M Mahinda Siriwardana and Chief Representative to JICA Sri Lanka office, Tetsuya Yamada on 8 August, 2022 at the Ministry of Finance. The agreement will further allow in accepting seventeen officials to Master’s and Doctoral Degree courses starting from 2023 in the study areas of public administration, economics, disaster management, business administration and so on.
“JICA has been sending young Sri Lankan Government officials under the JDS program for more than 10 years, and it is our utmost pleasure to be able to send another batch of 17 scholars to Japan in this memorable year of 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka. We believe that the expertise and experience that the participants acquire in Japan through this program will contribute to the strong recovery of Sri Lanka from the current crisis in the near future and will have the long-lasting impact on the country's further development, as well as friendship between the two countries.” said Yamada attending the signing event.
Since program initiation 152 young officials from Government services, including Sri Lanka Administrative, Sri Lanka Planning, Accounting, Medical and other related to disaster management and investment promotion has completed the program under JDS and has successfully returned to higher positions including Divisional Secretaries and Directors of Ministries, where they actively contribute to socio- economic development framework of the Government.
“I am Eng. K.R. Withanage of Department of Engineering Services Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council, a former JDS fellow. I completed my Master` s under JDS in 2016 from the University of Tokyo in Civil Engineering and currently I am selected as a JDS Ph.D scholar at Yokohama National University in the research area of Ground Improvement Techniques in Road Construction. I would like to see these new Japanese techniques enabling Sri Lankan Government to reduce high operational and maintenance costs spent on roads, through building better quality infrastructures that lasts for a longer period. I also feel this opportunity to move with Japanese society is a great prospect to learn and understand Japanese management systems, as Japan been the first non-western developed country in Asia.” says JDS Ph.D. scholar of current cooperation phase.
JICA will continue to support capacity development of government officials through JDS and other short and term training programs. It is expected that Sri Lanka Japan relationships will be further strengthened through JDS activities in the coming years.