Japan gives $27.21m in grants for human development and management projects
Other than the two grant agreements, Record of Discussions (R/D) of three projects under technical cooperation have also been signed on Wednesday
The Japanese government will provide a total of $27.21 million for two development projects in Bangladesh.
The Government of Japan will provide Bangladesh an amount of $4.21 million for a project titled "The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS)" as a grant for the year 2021 and $23 million for another project titled "The Project for the Improvement of Governance and Management Research and Training Facilities", said a press release.
Exchange of notes and grant agreements in this regard have been signed on Wednesday (December) by the Government of Bangladesh and the Government of Japan.
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Economic Relations Division Secretary Fatima Yasmin signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh, while the Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki signed the exchange of notes and JICA Bangladesh Office, Dhaka Chief Representative Yuho Hayakawa signed the grant agreements on behalf of the Government of Japan.
The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) is being implemented during the period 2001-2025 by the Economic Relations Division. Under the project, the grant provided by Government of Japan is being utilised for Scholarships for BCS Cadre Officers, Bangladesh Judicial Service Officers and First Class Officers of Bangladesh Bank to study Masters and PhD courses at various universities in Japan.
Total 385 (383 for Masters Degrees and 2 for PhD) officers have achieved Masters Degrees from Japan till date under the project.
At present 68 (59 for Masters Degrees and 9 for PhD) officers are studying in Japan and 33 (30 for Masters Degrees and 3 for PhD) officers have been selected for studying in Japan in the last batch. It is to be noted that earlier Government of Japan has provided 6.8 billion (approximately) Japanese Yen as grant for implementing the project for the period 2001-2020.
Grant provided by the Japanese government for the project will be utilised for developing physical infrastructure for training and research in BIGM to enhance the physical infrastructure facilities of BIGM, and to establish specialised centers for joint education, training and research activities on good governance, management and development in Bangladesh and Japan.
The project will be implemented by Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Management (BIGM) under Ministry of Public Administration. The implementation period of the project is April 2021 to June 2023.
Other than the two grant agreements, Record of Discussions (R/D) of three projects under technical cooperation have also been signed on Wednesday.
The three projects are - "Strengthening Capacity for City Corporations Project", "The Project for Improving Ground Handling Capacity at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport", and " The Project for Capacity Building of Nursing Services Phase 2", which will be implemented by the Local Government Division (LGD), Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, and Medical Education and Family Welfare Division respectively, the press release added.
Japan is the single largest bilateral development partner providing financial support for the socio-economic development of Bangladesh. Till November 2021, the support commitment has exceeded $27.40 billion and disbursement to $16.18 billion Japanese loans and grants are being utilised in a wide range of areas including power, roads, bridges, telecommunication, agriculture, health, education, water supply and sanitation, rural development, environment, human resource development among others.
