JICA Scholarships for Young Officials

KHMER TIMES
SREY KUMNETH

The departing students sponsored by Japanese Government Scholarship programs. Supplied

A total of 42 young Cambodian officials were selected to participate in a training program for young leaders in Japan in 2016, an opportunity to develop specialized knowledge and skills in their relevant fields.

Pich Thyda, the program officer at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said that 14 participants had been chosen for each of the three training programs – Economic Administration, Vocational Training and Community-based Health Operation and Management.

“Since 1995, when this program started, 982 young Cambodian officials have participated in this program in different fields at various training centers in Japan,” Ms. Thyda said.

At the opening ceremony of the Pre-departure Orientation Seminar yesterday at the Sunway Hotel, various attendees joined the event, including the group of 14 who will take part in the Economic Administration course early next month. The vocational training course will start in mid-September and the third course will be held at the end of November.

The age range for participants is between 20 and 35 and officials were selected from around the country to join the program because both the Ministry of Labor and JICA believe the young trainees can share their experiences and come back to help develop the country.

Tung Sopheap, the deputy director general at the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training’s general department of TVET, said: “The vocational training program in Cambodia is a strategy to reduce poverty and provide work to people. A workforce with skills can help develop the country.”

A participant in the training program in 2012, Tann Sambath, director of the ministry’s department of institution management, said: “This training program is really the best and helps give opportunities to young Cambodian officials. As we know, Japan is the second-largest economy in the world.”