ISLAMABAD – Japan yesterday extended grant aid worth ¥350 million for the 2026 Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) Programme in Pakistan, aimed at strengthening the capacity of Pakistani government institutions through advanced education and training of public officials at leading Japanese universities.
A formal signing ceremony was held in Islamabad, where Notes Verbale were exchanged between Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Akamatsu Shuichi and Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs Muhammad Humair Karim Kidwai. A Grant Agreement setting out the implementation details of the JDS programme for fiscal year 2026 was also signed by JICA Pakistan Chief Representative Shinozaki Yusuke and Senior Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs Miran Mohiyuddin Soomro.
Launched in Pakistan in 2018, the JDS programme forms part of Japan’s efforts to strengthen the administrative and institutional capacity of the Government of Pakistan by providing highly capable government officials with opportunities to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees at leading Japanese universities.
The scholars are selected from government officers involved in planning and implementing policies related to Pakistan’s social and economic development. Beyond academic and professional development, the programme seeks to deepen mutual understanding and further strengthen the longstanding friendship and cooperative relationship between Pakistan and Japan by developing future leaders who can serve as bridges between the two countries. Under the JDS programme, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has so far dispatched more than 100 Pakistani government officials to Japan, while more than 80 scholars have successfully completed their studies and returned to Pakistan, where they are contributing to the country’s development with enhanced knowledge and skills.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Japanese Ambassador Akamatsu Shuichi said the programme was based on the belief that investment in people represented the most sustainable investment a country could make. “When we support a young civil servant to pursue a Master’s or doctoral degree at a leading Japanese university, we are not simply funding an academic qualification. We are helping to shape a future leader,” he said.
The ambassador said scholars returning to Pakistan with new knowledge, perspectives and a deeper understanding of Japan, its people, culture and values would help build lasting human bridges between the two countries.
“These human bridges — built one scholar at a time — sustain and strengthen the longstanding friendship between our two nations,” Akamatsu said, adding that Japan deeply valued its relationship with Pakistan and considered the JDS programme one of the most enduring ways of investing in that partnership.
JICA Pakistan Chief Representative Shinozaki Yusuke said Japan’s cooperation through the programme was expected to support the Government of Pakistan in enhancing institutional capacity and contribute to the country’s sustainable development.
He said the third phase of the programme would continue strengthening the capacities of Pakistani government officials while further deepening the longstanding partnership between Japan and Pakistan. Shinozaki added that the initiative also indirectly supported a priority area of JICA’s country assistance policy by contributing to balanced and stable regional development through human resource development.
