Scholarship Programme (GRIPS – AGU)

AGU Scholarship Programme 2025/2026 Invitation

AY 2025-2026 Master’s Degree Programme in Strategic Management and Intellectual Property Rights (SMIPR)

📅 Deadline: 23 August 2024

The Japan-WCO Human Resource Development Programme

 (Scholarship Programme)

The WCO established the Japan-WCO Human Resource Development Programme (Scholarship Programme) in 2000, funded by Japan Customs, aimed at improving the human resources of WCO Member Customs administrations. 

Public Finance

The Programme provides Customs officials from developing countries with an opportunity to pursue Master’s level studies and training in Customs related fields in the Public Finance programme at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo, Japan. 

The Public Finance programme comprises two segments: an academic segment and a practical segment.  The academic segment provides rigorous, economics-oriented training aimed at developing a broad understanding of the theoretical, empirical and institutional aspects of Customs policy implementation and administration.  The practical segment is taught in co-operation with the Japan Customs, including the Japan Customs Training Institute.

Please see the GRIPS’ web-site for the detailed information of the Public Finance programme (http://www.grips.ac.jp/en/education/inter_programs/finance/).

221 Customs officials from 57 Members in all the WCO regions have been awarded the scholarship and taken part in this Master’s degree programme by 2021/2022. 

Strategic Management and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

The Programme provides Customs officials from developing countries with an opportunity to pursue Master’s level studies and training in Customs related fields in Strategic Management and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) at the Aoyama Gakuin Univerity (AGU) in Tokyo, Japan. 

The Master degree programme comprises two segments: an academic segment and a practical segment.  The academic segment starts with focused teaching of foundational skills in strategic management and IPR. It then moves to a range of applied topics which help students understand how to design, implement, and evaluate public policies, in particular customs policy, in accordance with development strategies for organizations.  The practical segment is taught in co-operation with the Japan Customs, including the Japan Customs Training Institute.

Please see the AGU’s web-site for the detailed information of the Strategic Management and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) programme (http://www.aoyamasmiprp.jp).

114 Customs officials from 50 Members in all the WCO regions have been awarded the scholarship and taken part in this Master’s degree programme by 2022/2023.