The Government of Japan has agreed to provide grant assistance in a sum of Japanese Yen 192 million (Approximately Rs.245 million) to Sri Lanka for the above programme to be implemented in 2013. The objective of this programme is to support human resources development by providing opportunities to government officials to follow higher educational programmes in reputed Japanese Universities, to enable them to contribute to the social and economic development of the country in a productive manner. The proposal made by H.E. the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Planning, to enter into a Grant Agreement for the purpose with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was approved by the Cabinet.