H.E. Mr. Tomislav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria (left) and GRIPS President Tanaka (right)

On 21 February 2018, H.E. Mr. Tomislav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, visited the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). Mr. Donchev was accompanied by the Bulgarian Ambassador to Japan, H.E. Mr. Borislav Kostov, Ms. Marieta Arabadjieva, Counsellor of the Political Section, and other staff from the Embassy. The delegation was received by President Akihiko Tanaka, Executive Vice President and Dean Mikitaka Masuyama, Executive Vice President Kiyotaka Yokomichi and Professor Kenichi Ohno.

President Tanaka gave a brief explanation of GRIPS, followed by a discussion on Bulgarian students studying in Japan, as well on the possibility of signing a Memorandum of Agreement on future exchange opportunities. 

As of today, 10 Bulgarian officials have graduated from GRIPS with a Master’s or a Doctoral degree, and currently one Bulgarian official is studying in the Young Leaders Program. The student also had a chance to pay her respects to the Deputy Prime Minister.