The opening ceremony of the JSPP21 "Seminar on Anti-Corruption for Afghanistan"

  
 
A seminar on anti-corruption, jointly organized by Japan and Singapore, was held from 18 to 22 July at the Civil Service College (CSC) for government officials of Afghanistan.

Leveraging on Singapore’s excellent track record in anti-corruption, the seminar was aimed at upgrading the efficiency and transparency of administrative procedures by targeting key areas of corruption prevention such as the improvisation on the management of public finances and auditing capabilities. Some 18 officials from relevant Afghanistan anti-corruption agencies such as the Ministry of Finance attended the seminar. In addition, Professor Akira Nakamura and Professor Kosaku Dairokuno from Meiji University were invited from Japan to give lectures on the topic of anti-corruption measures in Japan.

On 18 July, the opening day of the seminar, an opening ceremony was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore. Ambassador Suzuki attended the ceremony as a representative of the Japanese Government, and in his speech, he expected the participants to "bring home the extensive experience of Japan and Singapore in this area and share it with those put in charge of nation building to build a better Afghanistan". The participants also thanked Japan and Singapore for organizing the training.

This anti-corruption training seminar was organized under the Japan-Singapore Partnership Programme for the 21st Century (JSPP21) over a three-year period until FY2013.