AKP Phnom Penh, August 12, 2026 --

Cambodian Minister of Labour and Vocational Training H.E. Heng Sour on Tuesday urged 21 recipients of the Japanese government's Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) for 2025 to fully absorb knowledge and skills in Japan, emphasising they will become valuable human capital to help drive Cambodia's development.

Meeting the scholarship winners – comprising nine women – at the Ministry, H.E. Heng Sour expressed a warm welcome and congratulated them on securing the prestigious award, noting it reflects their personal academic efforts, Cambodia's socio-economic progress, and the strong bilateral friendship between the two nations.

H.E. Minister stressed that all academic fields offered under the programme are vital for Cambodia's labour market and socio-economic growth, encouraging the students to maximise the opportunity by building strong networks with professors and peers of all nationalities to broaden their expertise and future international cooperation.

He also urged them to uphold good conduct, demonstrating Khmer values of honesty, diligence and kindness while fostering unity within the Cambodian student association in Japan. H.E. Heng Sour expressed firm confidence that the scholarship awardees will succeed academically and return home as high-quality, innovative human resources to further contribute to Cambodia's development.

The 21 scholarship winners are scheduled to depart for Japan later this month to pursue master's and doctoral degrees.

By K. Rithy Reak