Press Release

Twenty (20) young Filipino professionals from government are leaving for Japan this August as part of the Japan International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) Grant Aid for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) program in the Philippines.

The study program is a component of JICA's Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the Philippines that aims to share Japan's experience and knowhow with young professionals from partner countries, and build goodwill between Japan and the Philippines. To date, 340 Filipinos have studied in Japan under JDS.

The new batch is composed of young government workers from institutions in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, including: National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Justice (DOJ), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Mindanao State University (MSU), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and University of the Philippines-Mindanao.

"As a nation, Japan's industrialization did not happen overnight. We were also recipient of development assistance in the 1950s, but through our government's leadership and policies, we became the first non-Western country to modernize our economy. Fundamental to this was the priority we have given to human resource development," said JICA Philippines Senior Representative Aya Kano. "The JDS is an opportunity for young Filipinos to learn from Japan's experience and from our leading universities and then contribute to Philippine development when they return."

Historically, Japan's economic success hinged on their government leadership that helped establish state enterprises, facilitated technology transfer from experts and Japanese students who studied overseas, development shift from agriculture to industrial and service sectors, and human resource development among others. JICA's JDS Program is unique as it aligns with the partner countries' socioeconomic agenda. Through the program, Filipino scholars will pursue research aligned with the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), particularly in areas such as water management, climate change risks, infrastructure development, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), waste management, and ease of doing business to name a few. The scholars will also have the chance to network with Japanese companies and institutions relevant to their field of study.

"If not for the scholarship I cannot afford to study in Japan, and without the degree, I will not be able to understand the principles needed for my work in investment banking in the Philippines," said former JDS scholar Francis delos Reyes. Upon his return to the Philippines, he introduced an IT platform in the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) that will connect all of the bank's operations into a seamless system to improve risk management, and customer and product service.

The JDS program is given to qualified government and non-government individuals who can play vital roles in Philippine development in the future. The program began in 1999 and is implemented in JICA's partner countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, and Sri Lanka among others.

For more information on JDS and JICA's Knowledge Co-Creation Program (KCCP), you may visit this link:

• https://www.jica.go.jp/philippine/english/activities/activity02_03_03.html