JICE hosted the “Asian Government Leaders Networking Event” on April 27th, 2018. This event, held for the fourth time, aimed to foster long-lasting relationships between the JDS (Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship by Japanese Grant Aid) Fellows and the Japanese Government administrators by providing opportunities of interaction and mutual learning.
The event was attended by a total of 214 participants (117 JDS Fellows and 97 Japanese government officials), which was far more than last year’s total of 176 participants.

Welcome address by Mr. Kiyotaka Yokomichi, Executive Director of JICE	Speech by Mr. Eiichiro Cho,Director General, Financial Cooperation Implementation Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA)	Speech by Mr. Minoru Masujima, Deputy Director-General, International Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

This event is not just about networking, JICE invited two lecturers; Mr. Mondo Yamamoto, Director, Development Assistance Policy Coordination Division, International Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Yusuke Shimizu, Deputy Director of the same division to brief the participating Fellows on the current policy regarding the Official Development Assistance of the Japanese Government.

Lecture by Mr. Mondo Yamamoto, Director, Development Assistance Policy Coordination Division, International Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Lecture by Mr. Yusuke Shimizu, Deputy Director, Development Assistance Policy Coordination Division, International Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Following the lectures, the Japanese and Asian Government officials engaged in a lively discussion regarding the common issues and challenges they face in the respective countries and ministries.

For the first trial, JICE set up a desk to match participants and specialized fields and facilitated networking among them. It was a success because we received many requests that they would like to have a connection with people of the same field.

They also watched video messages from three distinctive JDS alumni: Mr. Daniiar Imanaliev, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Economy of Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Mohammad Hasan Arif, Commercial Counselor, Embassy of Bangladesh (in Tokyo), Mr. Chin Malin, Under Secretary of Ministry of Justice of Cambodia. All of them emphasized importance of making networks between Japan and the JDS participating countries.

Following are some voices from the participants.
-“It was a valuable opportunity to exchange opinions with the JDS fellows who are expected to play a leadership role in their governments.” (A Japanese Government official)
-“This event means a lot to me in getting to know each other and the Japanese administrators.”(A Fellow from Bangladesh.)
-“Both the lecture sand discussions enabled us to get all kinds of latest information about Japanese development policies and problems. I want to make use of what I have learned here for the improvement of my future career and the development of my country.” (A Fellow from Myanmar.)

JDS Fellows listening enthusiastically to the speaker	JDS Fellows and Japanese administrators mingling together and chatting with each other

We, JICE, believe that this opportunity would help building sustainable cooperative relationship between Japan and JDS countries.
In addition, we will further encourage Japanese government administrators to connect with JDS Fellows and alumni who are expected to play a leadership role in their countries and to share knowledge and experiences in a bid to solve common challenges facing world.

Group photo by all the participants

Chie TERASHITA
Akari FUKUSHIMA
International Student Programs Division
International Student Programs Department I