On August 31, 2023, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tajikistan Office and the Government of Tajikistan signed the Grant Agreement (GA) for the "Project for Human Resources Development Scholarship (JDS)" for the Fiscal Year 2024 amounting to 276,000,000 Japanese Yen (equivalent to around 2 million USD).

The GA was signed between Mr. IMAI Seiju, the Chief Representative of the JICA Tajikistan Office, and Mr. QAHORZODA Faiziddin, the Minister of Finance, on behalf of the Government of Tajikistan. With the signing of GA, the Government of Japan will offer 16 scholarships (15 for the Master’s Program and 1 for the Doctoral Program) to the Civil Servants of Tajikistan to study at renowned Japanese Universities. The Government of Japan has been providing this scholarship since 2008 and as of August 2023, 116 JDS fellows for the Master’s Program and 5 JDS fellows for the Doctoral Program were dispatched to Japan.

The JDS Project holds a paramount objective of empowering young government officials who are expected to play a pivotal role in shaping and implementing social and economic development policies by utilizing the knowledge and abilities they have acquired in Japan. It is also expected that the bilateral ties between Tajikistan and Japan will be strengthen through these academic exchanges.

The signing ceremony was attended by JICA President, Dr. TANAKA Akihiko. During the ceremony, Dr. TANAKA highlighted that a considerable number of JDS fellows have been gracefully working as civil servants and taking up higher positions after completing their studies in Japan and Tajikistan has been considered as one of the best JDS models by the Government of Japan.

JICA intends to continue the provision of its assistance in the development of human resources for the training of highly qualified personnel of governmental agencies.

JDS Project is executed by the Agency of Civil Service under the President of Tajikistan with the financial support of JICA.

For more details about application documents and deadlines, interested applicants shall contact the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE) Office in Tajikistan, the consultant for the JDS Project through the following contacts:

Address: 33 Said Nosir Street, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Tel: 48-701-12-64; 935354451

E-mail: [email protected]

JICA began its technical cooperation with Tajikistan in 1993 by inviting Tajik officials to gain knowledge and experience in governance and macroeconomics development.

As of March 2023, the total number of participants in JICA’s Knowledge Co-Creation Programs, formerly called the Training Programs, has exceeded 2550 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 the living standard of Tajik people for 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 49 projects amounting to more than 427.44 million USD (97.2 million USD for Technical Cooperation and 330.2 million USD for Grant Assistance), including 12 ongoing projects.