Japan’s JICA extends 263 million Japanese Yen grant to uplift Sri Lanka’s public sector
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has reportedly extended a grant agreement under JDS amounting to 263 million Japanese Yen (Rs 420 million) for young government officers to undergo studies in top Japanese universities in their selected professions.
The signing of the present grant agreement will enable 17 fellows to undergo Masters and Doctoral studies in Japan, the local media has reported.
The Project for Human Resource Development or JDS is being implemented in 16 target countries by JICA and principally aims to support self-help efforts of respective countries evolving capacity development of young government officials, reports state.
Since initiation in 1999, around 4,300 participants from worldwide have been accepted under JDS for post-graduate studies in top Japanese Universities, reports add.
Accordingly, introduced in 2010 to Sri Lanka, 137 officials in the managerial capacity has been accepted for Masters and Doctoral degree courses in the areas of public policy and public finance, economics, business management, environment disaster management and climate change.
The agreement was signed between Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Samaratunga and Fusato Tanaka Chief Representative of JICA Sri Lanka Office.
OSL take:
The JICA grant aimed at uplifting Sri Lanka’s public sector would eventually add to the overall growth and development of the country. Sri Lanka boasts of the highest literacy rate in the region and possesses the highest number of skilled workers. The government of Sri Lanka has also taken many steps to increase productivity and efficiency of the country’s public sector thereby improving the island’s ease of doing business environment. Opportunities of further improving knowledge through assistance like that being provided by JICA would further develop Sri Lanka’s public sector and in turn increase economic productivity. All this has made Sri Lanka an attractive business/investment destination in the South Asian region.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/23072019/Z_3 |