Japan Awards MEXT Scholarships To Pak Students

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Mar, 2018 ) :The Government of Japan has awarded MEXT (Ministry of education, Culture, sports, Science and Technology of Japan) Research & Undergraduate Scholarships for Masters/Doctorate and bachelor's degrees for the year of 2018 to eleven (11) students of Pakistan.

The is aimed at providing Pak students with an opportunity to pursue higher studies in their respective fields at the leading public sector universities in Japan. The Embassy of Japan, Saturday organized a pre-departure orientation for the scholarship grantees who will shortly leave for Japan to undertake their higher studies.

Pakistani alumni of the Japanese universities were also invited at the orientation who shared their knowledge and experience of studying and living in Japan with the young scholarship grantees. Takashi Harada, Charge d'Affaires ad interim of Japan to Pakistan, later in the evening hosted a dinner reception to bid farewell to the scholarship grantees.

Speaking on the occassion, Takashi Harada congratulated the scholarship recipients and expressed his hope that they would come back to Pakistan to utilize the knowledge and expertise acquired in Japan for future development of Pakistan.

He hoped that these students would become bridges of friendship between Pakistan and Japan.

Japan's MEXT Research Scholarships was launched in 1954 while MEXT Undergraduate Scholarships were introduced in 1958 in Pakistan.

Since the first Pakistani student went to Japan on scholarship in 1963, up till now a large number of Pakistani students have successfully returned to Pakistan after obtaining their PhD/Master's degrees in Japan.

They are actively working in the academia, public and private sectors and have made significant contributions to the development of Pakistan in various fields as well as in strengthening friendly relationship between Pakistan and Japan.

Japan awards graduate and post graduate fully funded scholarships to Pakistani students every year besides offering many short-term scholarships and training courses round the year. South Asia Federation of Japanese Universities Alumni Associations (SAFJUAA) was hosted by MEXT Alumni Association of Pakistan (MAAP) this year, where delegates from Nepal and Sri Lanka participated in the two-day conference.

A Japanese language speech contest was also held in which participants from Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka took part. Mr. Harada awarded certificates to the participants and also invited SAFJUAA delegates, and Japanese speech participants to the reception.