Islamabad (Ghulam Murtaza): The Government of Japan has extended grant aid worth 350 million Japanese Yen for the implementation of the Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) FY 2026 Program in Pakistan.

A formal signing ceremony was held in Islamabad, where Notes Verbale were signed and exchanged between H.E. Mr. AKAMATSU Shuichi, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, and Mr. Muhammad Humair Karim Kidwai, Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Government of Pakistan. Additionally, a Grant Agreement outlining the implementation details of the project for Fiscal Year 2026 was signed between Mr. SHINOZAKI Yusuke, Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Pakistan Office, and Mr. Miran Mohiyuddin Soomro, Senior Joint Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The JDS Program, which is launched in 2018, is part of Japan’s commitment to strengthen the administrative capacities of the Government of Pakistan. The program offers highly capable Pakistani government officers the opportunity to pursue Master’s and Ph.D. degrees at leading Japanese universities. These officers are selected from those involved in planning and implementing social and economic development policies. The JDS Program also seeks to promote mutual understanding and further strengthen the longstanding friendship and cooperative relationship between Japan and Pakistan by fostering future leaders who will serve as bridges between the two countries.

Through the JDS Program, JICA has so far dispatched more than 100 government officers to Japan. To date more than 80 scholars have successfully completed their studies and returned to Pakistan, contributing their enhanced knowledge and skills to the country’s development.

On this occasion, H.E. Mr. AKAMATSU Shuichi, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, stated:

” At its core, this program is built on a simple but powerful belief — that investing in people is the most sustainable investment a nation can make. When we support a young civil servant to pursue a Master’s or doctoral degree at a leading Japanese university, we are not simply funding an academic qualification. We are helping to shape a future leader — someone who will return to Pakistan with new knowledge, new perspectives, and a deepened understanding of Japan, its people, its culture, and its values. It is these human bridges — built one scholar at a time — that sustain and strengthen the longstanding friendship between our two nations. Japan deeply values its relationship with Pakistan, and the JDS Program is one of the most personal and enduring ways we invest in that relationship.”

Mr. SHINOZAKI Yusuke, Chief Representative of JICA Pakistan Office, added:

“I sincerely hope that the JICA’s cooperation through this project will support the Government of Pakistan to enhance institutional capacity, thereby contributing to Pakistan’s sustainable development. The third phase aims to continue strengthening the capacities of Pakistani government officials and further deepen the longstanding partnership between Japan and Pakistan. This initiative indirectly meet one of the priority area objectives of JICA’s country assistant policy which is balanced and stable regional development by supporting human resource development.”