The governments of Maldives and Japan have signed an Exchange of Notes to provide a grant aid of USD 1.3 million to the Maldives for the continuation of scholarships opportunities to be offered by the Japanese government for the fiscal year 2025. The scholarships are provided under the Japanese Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS).
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sheryna Abdul Samad and the Ambassador of Japan to the Maldives Ishigami Rumiko signed the Exchange of Notes on Tuesday, at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of State for Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development Dr Abdul Raheem Hasan and senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development, Civil Service Commission, the Embassy of Japan, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The grant will fund six fully-funded scholarships this year to the Maldivian students, as part of a project which was implemented in August 2020 by the Japanese government for further enhancing Human Resource Development in the Maldives. Under the grant, students will have the opportunity to obtain their Masters Degree at Japan’s top universities.
The scholarship programme aims to build qualified and competent youth who will contribute to the formulation and implementation of social and economic development policies, and will play an active role in nation-building. The Japanese government provided similar support last year as well.