Diplomatic Correspondent: The government of Japan will provide an overall amount of $27.21 million to Bangladesh against two projects.

Out of the amount, Japan will provide 462 million Japanese Yen (equivalent to approximately Taka 35.75 crore or $4.21 million) for the project titled "The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS)" as grant for Year 2021.

Besides, Japan will also provide 2,429 million Japanese Yen (equivalent to approximately Taka 194.32 crore or $23.00 million) for the project titled "The Project for the Improvement of Governance and Management Research and Training Facilities".

In this regard, "Exchange of Notes" and "Grant Agreements" were signed Wednesday between the government of Bangladesh and the government of Japan.

Fatima Yasmin, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD) signed the "Exchange of Notes" and the "Grant Agreements" on behalf of the government of

Bangladesh, while Ito Naoki, Ambassador of Japan in Bangladesh signed the "Exchange of Notes" and Yuho Hayakawa, Chief Representative, JICA Bangladesh Office, signed the "Grant Agreements" on behalf of the Government of Japan.

  The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) is being implemented during the period 2001-2025 by the Economic Relations Division.

Under the project, the grant provided by Japan is being utilized for scholarships for BCS Cadre Officers, Bangladesh Judicial Service Officers and

First Class Officers of Bangladesh Bank to study Masters and PhD courses at various universities in Japan. This scholarship is contributing to develop knowledge and skills acquired through higher education from Japanese universities; moreover, it is helping to develop relations between the two countries.

It is to be noted that earlier Japan has provided 6.8 billion (approximately) Japanese Yen as grant for implementing the project for the period 2001-2020.

The grant to be provided by Japan for `The Project for the Improvement of Governance and Management Research and Training Facilities` will be utilized for developing physical infrastructure for training and research in BIGM to enhance the physical infrastructure facilities of BIGM, and to establish specialized centers for joint education, training and research activities on good governance, management and development in Bangladesh and Japan.

The project will be implemented by Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Management (BIGM) under Ministry of Public Administration. Implementation period of the project is April 2021 to June 2023. Besides, Record of Discussions (R/D) of three projects under technical cooperation were also signed Wednesday.

These three projects are `Strengthening Capacity for City Corporations Project`, `The Project for Improving Ground Handling Capacity at Hazrat

Shahjalal International Airport`, and `The Project for Capacity Building of Nursing Services Phase 2`, which will be implemented by the Local Government Division (LGD), Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, and Medical Education and Family Welfare Division respectively.

Through `Strengthening Capacity for City Corporations Project` administrative functions in city corporations will be strengthened, which will contribute to improve service delivery of city corporations.

The purpose of the Project for Improving Ground Handling Capacity at HazratShahjalalInternationalAirport` is to improve convenience, efficiency and safety at HazratShahjalalInternationalAirport by providing sustainable ground handling services. On the other hand, through the Project for Capacity

Building of Nursing Services Phase 2, implementation system of nursing education will be strengthened at the targeted public nursing colleges and hospitals.

Japan is the single largest bilateral development partner providing financial support for the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.

Till November 2021, the Japanese commitment has exceeded $27.40 billion and disbursement to $16.18 billion. Japanese loans and grants are being utilized in a wide range of areas including power, roads, bridges, telecommunication, agriculture, health, education, water supply and sanitation, rural development, environment and human resource development.