Honda Foundation to Launch YES Award Grant Program for Asian University Students - Initially in Vietnam starting in April

Tokyo, Japan, Mar 15, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - The Honda Foundation (HOF: Hiromori Kawashima president, Soichiro Honda founder) will launch a new grant program named the Honda Young Engineer and Scientists Award ("YES Award") for select Southeast Asian university students in science and technology, initially in Vietnam starting April 2006.

The entire YES Award program aims to provide financial aid to the bearers of future industry and sciences. Specifications of the program may vary among beneficiary countries, for which HOF will regularly discuss with each government and academic community to attain optimal results.

The YES Award program is kicking off in Vietnam whose economy is growing fast at a remarkable pace thanks to its high enthusiasm for education, but will be expanded into two other countries: one for next year and the other for the year that follows.

In Vietnam the program committee will annually select up to 10 undergraduate students of its designated Vietnamese universities to receive a USD 3,000 study grant and an extra prize. With admission to postgraduate study in Japan, these awardees will automatically be eligible for a non-restrictive scholarship of USD 10,000. Development of this one-of-a-kind, two-phase grant scheme will undoubtedly draw special attention in the academic communities.

HOF will conduct the Vietnamese YES Award in association with Vietnam's science and technology organization and Honda Vietnam Company Limited (HVN). Shared administration tasks in a dedicated office will be set up in the City of Hanoi. HVN will also offer motorcycles as part of the YES Award prize.

At the threshold of its 30th anniversary in December next year, HOF defines the YES Award grant program as the third pillar to complement the existing Honda Prize and international conference activities. The program reinforces HOF's commitment to create a more compassionate civilization through the promotion of eco-technologies, especially in Southeast Asia. (The foundation has a background to this type of grant program: Soichiro Honda and his associate Takeo Fujisawa once operated an anonymous fund called Sakkokai* and financially backed up young talent.

* Sakkokai is a private fund established in 1960 by the two Honda founders to anonymously provide grants to young and bright science and technology researchers in Japan. Sakkokai has produced many business and industry leaders, a cumulative total of 1,735 grantees under a very strict selection process, until it was closed in 1983 when its role was thought to be over as Japan became one of the most prosperous economies in the world.