Press Release

On 1st December 2021, a signing ceremony for the 4th batch of the Project for Human Resources Development Scholarship (JDS) was held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in Dili.

The Grant Agreement (G/A) for JDS, total amount of $ 147M, was assured between Mr. Juliao da Silva and Mr. GOTO Ko, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The objective of the JDS program is to support Human Resource Development among young government officials and others from Timor-Leste through pursuing Master degrees in Japan. Returned fellows are expected to become leaders in the future thereon.

JDS program has first started in Timor-Leste in 2019. Total of 8 young government officials will be selected for 4th batch fellows and will start their studying in Autumn 2022 in areas of Improvement of Public Administration and Legal System, Improvement of Service Delivery (Health/Education), Rural and Industrial development, Improvement of Transportation/Urban environment Development.

With this program, the fellows will be able to acquire expert knowledge, conduct research, and be provided an opportunity to prepare them to become invaluable leaders for the future. 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 and to strengthen partnership between Japan and Timor-Leste.