Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: The Government of Nepal and the Government of Japan have signed a grant agreement for Human Resources Scholarship Programme.

President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Dr. Tanaka Akihiko has been appointed as Finance Minister at the Ministry of Finance. He has met with Dr. Swarnim Wagle.

During the meeting, President of Japan International Cooperation Agency Dr. Expressing concern over the priorities of the new government, Tanaka said Japan was willing to work with the new government as it has been a good friend and development partner of Nepal for a long time.

In response, Finance Minister Dr. Wagle talked about the priorities expressed in the budget recently formulated by the government. Finance Minister Dr Khatiwada said that improving public service delivery through good governance and conducive business environment for the private sector is the top priority of the new government. Wagle said. On the occasion, the Finance Minister lauded the contributions made by Japan in the development of physical infrastructure, social sector and human governance development in Nepal.

Finance Secretary Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada submitted a memorandum of exchange on Human Resources Scholarship Programme at the Ministry of Finance today. Japanese Ambassador to Nepal, Dr Ghanashyam Upadhyaya, and Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Maeed Toru signed the grant agreement. Dhaniram Sharma and Chief Representative of JICA Nepal Office Matsuzaki Mizuki signed the MoU.

Under the programme, Government of Japan will provide grant assistance equivalent to JPY 410 million to Nepal.

The scholarships will be provided for Master’s and Ph.D. programs in reputed universities of Japan to make the human resources working in the civil service of the Government of Nepal skilled and productive. It will help enhance the efficiency of policy-making and development management in the public sector of Nepal.