Nepal and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Tuesday signed a grant agreement on assistance for the project for human resource development scholarship for the current fiscal year.

The grant amounting to Japanese Yen 376 million (Rs350 million), will offer 22 scholarships to the civil servants of Nepal to study in graduate schools of renowned Japanese universities, according to a statement issued by JICA.

“The selected participants enhance their expertise in respective professional areas ranging widely from judicial, economic policy, industrialisation to infrastructure, and develop a broad network at the global level,” the statement said.

The exchange of notes regarding the assistance was signed between Madhu Kumar Marasini, secretary at the Ministry of Finance, and Tamura Takahiro, charge d’Affaires ad interim of Japan to Nepal at the Embassy of Japan in Kathmandu, on behalf of their respective governments.

The objective of the project is to strengthen the government’s administrative capacities in Nepal for the young and capable government employees who are expected to engage in formulating and implementing social and economic development plans and thus play leadership roles to contribute to the development of Nepal.

This agreement expects to expand and enhance the foundation for bilateral relations between Japan and Nepal by means of accepting students from Nepal into Japanese universities as overseas students.

The government of Japan has been providing this scholarship since 2016. Until now, 80 civil servants have graduated from Japanese universities and spread across key ministries of Nepal building a strong alumni network.

At present, 42 civil servants are undertaking Master’s and PhD courses in Japanese universities.

Tanaka Tomoko, the senior representative of JICA Nepal, stated: “We are hopeful all the scholars will contribute to the development process of Nepal and will be the bridge between Nepal and Japan once they come back after completing their education in Japan.”