On June 20, 2022, in response to a proposal from the Kinki Secretariat of the National Personnel Authority, an exchange meeting was held between JDS fellows and the officials of the National Personnel Authority . Twelve JDS fellows and four officials of the National Personnel Authority participated in the meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, Director-General of Kinki Secretariat, gave a lecture to the fellows on the Japanese public administration entitled “Outline and Features of the Japanese Public Employee System”, and followed by a lively exchange of opinions in groups.

Comments from the fellows are as follows: “It was a great opportunity to learn about the personnel systems in Japan and the countries of other JDS fellows and to reflect on the system in my country . In particular, I keenly felt that there is room for further improvement, especially with regard to the evaluation system of civil servants.” “I hope that more JDS fellows will be given the opportunity to attend as it is a very useful meeting. ” “I would be happy if you would consider holding the second meeting next year.” We received a positive response from the participants with many comments expressing gratitude and hopes for the further connections with the Japanese government officials.