The training in anti-corruption and public governance will be offered under an existing Japan-Singapore partnership program for joint technical assistance to developing countries, Singapore's Foreign Ministry said earlier this week.
The ministry said this is the first time for the two countries to provide joint training in the area of anti-corruption and public governance to Afghanistan.
Afghan officials are expected to come to Singapore for training, while Japan will provide some financing and also dispatch an official to Singapore to help out, other sources said.
"The program will 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," the ministry said in a statement.
Singapore is known for its tough stance against corruption. It has been ranked fourth in the world and first in Asia for having the least corruption in its economy in the World Competitiveness report issued by the Swiss-based IMD, one of the world's most eminent business schools, last year.
The city-state has a special agency investigating such crimes that reports directly to the prime minister. About 95 percent of cases investigated annually end in a conviction, an official of the agency said.
The decision for Japan and Singapore to collaborate to provide the anti-corruption and public governance training for Afghanistan was first announced by Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada at the International Conference on Afghanistan held in Kabul on July 20.
A one-week joint training program in public governance will be customized for senior Afghan government officials and held in Singapore next year, the ministry said earlier this week.
The broader existing joint partnership program between Singapore and Japan involves Singapore's Foreign Ministry and the Japan International Cooperation Agency and has existed since 1994. "Japan has been using Singapore as the venue for training officers from third countries because of the language barrier in Japan, and the structure of training available here is more pertinent," said an observer.
In the past, more than 300 Afghan government officials have gone through courses conducted in the city-state on civil aviation, education, the environment, urban transport planning, public administration and healthcare.
