MFA Press Statement: Second Year of Collaboration Between Singapore and Germany in Training Civil Aviation Personnel in Afghanistan

Singapore and Germany will collaborate for a second year in 2011 to provide joint technical assistance to Afghanistan in civil aviation. The collaboration aims to improve the safety of civilian air traffic in Afghanistan through capacity building of Afghan aviation personnel. The programme is co-sponsored by the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) and the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO). Factsheets on the SCP and the Singapore-Germany Third Country Training Programme are at Annex A and Annex B respectively.

For 2011, Singapore and Germany will customise a two-week airport ramp operations and management programme for 20 officials from the Afghan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. The programme will take place in January 2011 at the Singapore Aviation Academy. Further civil aviation programmes could be considered for 2011.

A Letter of Intent between both Governments will be signed today by Singapore's Ambassador in Berlin, Mr Jacky Foo, and German Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Michael Steiner, at the GFFO in Berlin.

This joint collaboration to build human resource capacity in civil aviation in Afghanistan began in 2009. To date, Singapore and Germany have conducted two joint programmes in civil aviation management and airport terminal operations management for 36 Afghan officials in September 2009 and January 2010.

Singapore has been providing technical assistance to Afghanistan 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 2009, Singapore collaborated with The Asia Foundation to organise a training programme in anti-corruption for 17 senior officials from the Afghan High Office of Oversight for Anti-Corruption. In 2011, Singapore will also begin an inaugural collaboration with Japan to provide training for senior Afghan officials in public governance and anti-corruption. To date, Singapore has trained a total of 336 Afghan government officials in areas such as civil aviation, education, environment, urban transport planning, public administration and healthcare under the SCP.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
23 NOVEMBER 2010

ANNEX A

About the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP)

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 itself has 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.

2 Established in 1992, the SCP brought together the various technical assistance programmes offered by Singapore under a single framework. Over the years, the range of SCP activities has expanded steadily to cater to the training needs of recipient countries. To date, Singapore has organised training courses and study visits for over 70,000 participants from 169 countries around the globe.

3 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 30 development partners, comprising developed countries, international organisations and non-governmental organisations.

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

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ANNEX B

SINGAPORE-GERMANY 

THIRD COUNTRY TRAINING PROGRAMME

Singapore has been collaborating with Germany since 1993 in providing technical assistance to developing countries. The Singapore-Germany Third Country Training Programme (TCTP) comprises not only our collaboration with GFFO, but also with German aid agency Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and the German NGO Hanns-Siedel Foundation (HSF).

2 Singapore has been working with GTZ since 1993 to provide joint technical assistance in the areas of technical/vocational education training, multimedia development and internet technology. To date, we have jointly conducted 28 joint training programmes for 406 government officials from developing countries.

3 Singapore has been collaborating with HSF since 2001. Both sides have jointly conducted 20 training courses for 325 government officials from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam in areas such as environment, energy efficiency and climate change, public administration, trade negotiation and urban planning.

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