MFA Press Statement: Introductory Visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs K Shanmugam to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 8-10 September 2011

A group of 18 senior government officials from various regulatory and oversight institutions in Afghanistan will be in Singapore from 18 to 22 July 2011 for a customised seminar on anti-corruption. Organised under the Japan-Singapore Partnership Programme for the 21st Century (JSPP21), this training programme is Singapore's and Japan's first collaboration in providing joint technical assistance to Afghanistan in the area of public governance and anti-corruption. This inaugural collaboration was announced by then Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada at the International Conference on Afghanistan in Kabul on 20 July 2010.

Conducted by the Singapore Civil Service College, the one-week seminar aims to strengthen the capacity of senior Afghan policymakers in the field of good governance and managing corruption, which are current key priority areas for the Afghan Government. It will include site visits to Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and Supreme Court. Two Japanese professors from Japan's Meiji University will also share on the evolution of the Japanese system of government and its experience in managing corruption.

The JSPP21 is a framework of collaboration between the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) of the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, under which both countries provide joint technical assistance to developing countries. More on the JSPP21 and SCP are provided at Annex A and Annex B respectively.

Singapore has been extending technical assistance to Afghanistan under the SCP since 2002, when it pledged a technical assistance package (worth S$1.2 million) at the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan in Tokyo. In addition to the JSPP21 and our bilateral training programmes, Singapore has also collaborated with The Asia Foundation and the German Federal Foreign Office to jointly organise human resource capacity building programmes for Afghanistan in the fields of anti-corruption and civil aviation respectively. To date, about 410 Afghan government officials have been trained under the SCP in diverse areas such as public administration, education, environment, urban transport planning. and healthcare.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
17 JULY 2011

ANNEX A

JAPAN - SINGAPORE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Singapore and JICA began collaboration in 1994 under the framework of the Japan-Singapore Partnership Programme (JSPP). In 1997, both sides signed a Memorandum of Discussion (MOD) to establish a more formal framework of cooperation, called JSPP21 (JSPP for the 21st Century). To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Singapore-Japan diplomatic relations in 2006 and the 10th Anniversary of the JSPP21 in 2007, both countries, represented by their Foreign Ministers, signed an Enhanced JSPP21 MOD in December 2007.

With a view to enhancing ASEAN integration through the 2007 MOD, both governments recognised, as areas of priority, training and capacity building for third countries in the fields of (a) trade and investment facilitation, (b) information and communications technology development, and (c) infectious disease management. Both Governments also recognised the need to focus on capacity building for third countries in (a) energy security, (b) governance and the maintenance of stable financial systems, and (c) environmental protection.

Since 1994, Singapore and Japan have conducted over 270 joint training programmes in diverse fields including public governance, environment, urban planning, productivity management, policing, information technology, and trade promotion, for over 4,700 government officials from around the world.

ANNEX B

SINGAPORE COOPERATION PROGRAMME

Singapore's technical assistance programme is based on the training and development of human resource in competencies useful to developing countries. As a country whose only resource is its people, Singapore believes that human resource development is vital for economic and social progress. Singapore had earlier also benefited from training provided by other countries and international organisations. Through the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), Singapore shares its development experiences with other developing countries.

Established in 1992, the SCP brought together the various technical assistance programmes offered by Singapore under a single framework. To date, Singapore has organised training courses and study visits for over 75,000 participants from 170 countries around the world. The areas of training under the SCP include civil aviation, disaster management, economic development, education, English language, environment, finance, healthcare, information technology, law, public administration, trade promotion and urban development. Apart from training courses, Singapore also hosts a number of delegations for study visits each year. Over the years, the range of SCP activities has expanded steadily to cater to the training needs of recipient countries.

A key feature of the SCP is the Third Country Training Programme (TCTP). TCTPs are technical assistance programmes jointly conducted with a donor partner for recipient countries. The TCTP modality of technical cooperation was conceived to leverage on both partners' expertise and resources to maximise the outcome of the joint programme. To date, Singapore has established TCTPs with more than 40 development partners, comprising developed countries (including Japan), international organisations and non-governmental organisations.

More details are available on the Singapore Cooperation Programme Website at www.scp.gov.sg.