Returned scholars of JDS (Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship) supported by the government of Japan made reports to authorities and JDS Alumni Association had a meeting in Dushanbe, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Office in Tajikistan.
The report meeting by JDS 8th batch master’s scholars who came back from Japan in summer 2018 was reportedly conducted on February 21 in Dushanbe.
Five returned scholars who obtained master’s degrees are staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Ministry of Transport and the National Bank of Tajikistan. They entered master’s courses of Japanese universities in Japan in 2016 and studied subjects related to development of Tajikistan. At the report meeting, two representatives of the returned fellows presented the overview and outcomes of their research and the proposals to their organizations. Their experience in Japan and future career plans were also shared with audience.
Mr. Davlatov, Director of the Agency of the Civil Service under the President of Tajikistan (ACS), as the chair of JDS Operating Committee, encouraged the returned scholars by saying that obtaining the master’s degree was just the start of their significant contribution to the country, and wished them good luck for their careers.
Mr. Nakagaki, Counselor of the Embassy of Japan, expressed his great expectations to the returnees for their efforts to raise the quality of life in Tajikistan. Mr. Tanabe, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tajikistan Office, welcomed the scholars’ return to the country as further development of Tajikistan needs the specialists with larger pictures of the world.
After the report meeting, the meeting of JDS Alumni Association was held in which alumni discussed more effective management of the association and future possible activities. Deepening the engagement among the members, the association is planning to contribute to the development of Tajikistan and expand the relationship between Tajikistan and Japan through the activities using the advantage of experience and achievement of studying in Japan.
The objectives of JDS are to support human resource development of the Republic of Tajikistan targeting young government officials and to strengthen the bilateral relations between Tajikistan and Japan. This project is characterized by its elaborated framework which designates the fields of research and graduate schools focusing on important development issues in Tajikistan. JDS scholars are expected to be leaders of the country, and to engage in formulating and implementing social and economic development policies using their gained academic knowledge and skills. As of February 2018, 52 scholars for the master’s program and 2 scholars for a doctoral program were dispatched to Japan and 16 of them are currently studying at universities in Japan. 38 scholars returned to Tajikistan with their master’s degrees and contribute to the development of Tajikistan after their coming back. The project is executed by ACS with the financial support by the government of Japan. Coordination of the project is facilitated by Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE) under the supervision of JICA.
Only government officials who belong to designated governmental organizations can apply for this scholarship. Apart from JDS, the government of Japan provides several scholarship and training programs in Tajikistan such as Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) Scholarships and JICA short-term trainings.
JICA began its technical cooperation with Tajikistan in 1993 by inviting Tajik officials to gain knowledge and experience on governance and macroeconomics development. As of January 2018, a total number of participants to JICA’s Knowledge Co-Creation Programs, formerly called the Training Programs, has exceeded 2200 people. JICA Office was established in 2006 in Tajikistan and since then various Grant Financial Assistance and Technical Cooperation projects have been implemented more dynamically, aiming at improving living standard of Tajik people for the sectors such as agriculture and rural development, water supply, health, transport, energy, capacity building as well as SME promotion. JICA’s cumulative investment portfolio in Tajikistan in all sectors comprises 35 projects amounting to more than 349.6 million USD (82 million USD for Technical Cooperation and 267.6 million USD for Grant Assistance), including 11 on-going projects.
