Description and Purposes

The Executive Training Program provides funding to train outstanding high-level professionals working in the governments of Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and the Republic of China. The purposes of this program are to:

• Respond to an increasingly complex global environment by strengthening the professional skills and specialization of professionals, executives and government officials.
• Develop officials capable of enhancing working productively in international fields, especially within the Central American region, and with the ROC.

Qualifications of Candidates

Candidates should be high-level officials of the foreign ministries or other ministries recommended by the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), who have worked for the sponsoring ministry at least three years, and who are under 45 of age. Candidates should have backgrounds in economic development, international affairs, international finance, international cooperation, public administration or other relevant fields that prepare them for further training in public policy and/or management. Candidates must have good command of English or other languages of the country where the training is taking place.

Application Procedure

The sponsoring ministry will nominate one to two candidates. Documents that must be sent to the Secretariat of the ICDF Fund include:

• Letters of recommendation (if the candidate is not recommended from MOFA, two letters of recommendation should be submitted, one from the MOFA, and one from the responsible ministry).
  Résumés.
• Autobiographies not exceeding 500 words.
• Study plans.
  Nomination deadline: Oct. 31 of each year. All nominations should be sent to the Secretary of the Fund.

Responsibilities of Sponsoring Ministries

• Provide sufficient salary for the subsistence of the family of the recipients.
  respective governments.
• Ensure that the recipients will return home and continue working for the sponsoring ministry after the completion of training.
• Give due consideration of promotion to the recipient after the trainee has successfully completed the program.

Responsibilities of Recipients

• Return to the sponsoring ministry after one year of training to serve in their respective governments.
• Focus on a program of studies that will specifically address the future needs of the sponsoring ministry, with a portion of the studies focusing on enhancing the relations of the Central American region with the ROC.
• Obey all the rules and regulations of this program.

Cost and Execution

• The Fund will finance full tuition, books and materials, cost of living (all stipulated by the university), and round-trip transportation (with airfare limited to economy class) to and from the place of study.
• If compatible with the program of study, the Fund may also cover a round-trip ticket and living costs for a short field study in the ROC.
• The total amount of support for the items mentioned above in (1) and (2) shall not exceed US$50,000 per student per year.
• The scholarship will be limited to one year, with extension to a maximum of two years possible if the sponsoring government makes an appeal to the ICDF Board of Directors and gives up its right to recommend a candidate for the subsequent year.
• The Fund will disburse the scholarship funds to the university (with the exception of the transportation costs) semiannually.
• The Secretariat of the Fund will be responsible for tracking the performance of the recipients and submitting an annual report to the Board.

Selection of Academic Institutions

This program is limited to one-year mid-career executive training in reputable academic institutions that are approved by the Board. The followings academic institutions in the United States are examples for consideration:

• Harvard University
• Princeton University
• Duke University
• Tufts University
• George Washington University

Cancellation and Penalties

If the first candidate proposed by a government fails to be accepted by an acceptable institution, an alternative candidate from that country may be selected for that year. If the recipient fails to complete the program without reasonable cause, the recipient should refund the scholarship received from the Fund, or the country involved will forego its right to nominate a candidate for the following year.

Do you qualify? See the Executive Training Program Application Guidelines