On Friday, a ceremony was held at the Japanese Ambassador’s residence to send-off the 20th batch of the Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship by Japanese Grant Aid (JDS) Fellows from the Philippines.

The JDS is a scholarship project financed by the Government of Japan as part of its Official Development Assistance to the Philippines. It is intended to support government officials in achieving their full potential, and assist in the socioeconomic advancement of the country.

A total of 20 JDS Fellows comprise the 20th Batch. To date, the Philippines has a total of 419 JDS Fellows.

Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko, in his opening remarks, congratulated and gave his well wishes to the JDS Fellows. He also stated, “I can confirm that we consider cooperation in human resource development to be our top priority, and we believe that people-to-people exchange is at the very core of our bilateral cooperation.”

Also present in the ceremony were Undersecretary Joseph Capuno of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Assistant Director Jacqueline Ong of the Northeast Asia Division, Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and Chief Representative Sakamoto Takema of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Philippines. Japan Information and Cultural Center