Press Release

On 18th June 2019, a signing ceremony for the 2nd batch of the Project for Human Resources Development Scholarship (JDS) funded by the Government of Japan was held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in Dili. The Ambassador of Japan in Timor-Leste, H.E. Mr. Hiroshi Minami, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Dionisio Babo Soares, signed an Exchange of Notes (E/N) of the Project. A Grant Agreement (G/A) for JDS was also signed between H.E. Dr. Dionisio Babo Soares, and Mr. Nagaishi Masafumi, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The objective of the JDS Project, currently implemented in 16 countries, is to support human resource development targeting young government officials and others from Timor-Leste, who are expected to engage in formulating and implementing social and economic development plans, and to become leaders in the future, by accepting them in Japanese universities as JDS fellows. Moreover, the Project aims to strengthen the partnership between Timor-Leste and Japan.

In this year 2019, the first JDS fellows from Timor-Leste will be dispatched to Japan. The year 2019 is the year of 20th anniversary of support by the Government of Japan to Timor-Leste and also the 20th anniversary of the JDS Project. The Embassy of Japan and JICA office in Timor-Leste are very pleased to introduce this Project to Timor-Leste in such a memorable year. As many as 8 fellows will join the master courses in the area of: improvement of public administration and legal system; improvement of service delivery; rural and industrial development; improvement of transportation/urban environment development. The language of study will be in English.

With this program, the fellows will be able to acquire expert knowledge, conduct research, and build human networks at Japanese universities. After returning to their work in Timor-Leste, they are expected to use such knowledge in order to take an active role in solving practical problems of the social and economic development issues that Timor-Leste is facing.