MFA Press Statement: Singapore and Japan embark on first collaboration to provide anti-corruption training to Afghanistan

Singapore will collaborate with Japan for the first time to provide joint technical assistance to Afghanistan in the area of anti-corruption and public governance.

This was stated by the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Katsuya Okada, at the International Conference on Afghanistan held in Kabul on 20 July 2010.

A one-week joint training programme in public governance will be customised for senior Afghan government officials and held in Singapore in 2011 under the Japan-Singapore Partnership Programme for the 21st Century (JSPP21). The programme will strengthen the capacity of senior Afghan policy makers in the field of good governance and managing corruption, which are current key priority areas for the Afghan Government. JSPP21 is an existing 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.

In 2002, Singapore pledged a technical assistance package worth S$1.2 million to Afghanistan at the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan in Tokyo. Since then, Singapore has been providing technical assistance to Afghanistan under the SCP (see Annex). In addition to our bilateral training programmes, Singapore has also recently partnered with The Asia Foundation (TAF) and the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) to jointly organise training programmes for Afghanistan in the fields of anti-corruption and civil aviation respectively. In 2009, Singapore collaborated with TAF to conduct an anti-corruption course for 17 senior officials from the Afghan High Office of Oversight for Anti-Corruption, and with GFFO for two civil aviation courses for 36 officials from the Afghan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. Another two civil aviation courses with GFFO are planned for 2010.

To date, Singapore has trained a total of 326 Afghan government officials under the SCP in diverse areas including civil aviation, education, environment, urban transport planning, public administration and healthcare.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
28 JULY 2010

ANNEX

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 69,000 participants from 169 countries around the world.

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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