Afghanistan, Indonesia formalise anti-corruption cooperation

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Afghan and Indonesian anti-corruption watchdogs have agreed to formalise and strengthened future cooperation in the field of anti-corruption, according to a statement on Wednesday.

 The agreement reached during three-day meeting held in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, between the Afghan Independent Joint Anti-Corruption and Evaluation Committee (MEC) and the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

The Afghan-German Cooperation’s Open Policy Advisory Fund (OPAF) coordinated the visit with partners from Indonesia and Germany.

The event marked the first step to formalise ongoing peer-to-peer cooperation between Afghanistan and Indonesia – MEC and KPK.

Previously, both organisations had met to discuss technical capacities and negotiate the future commitment’s conditions.

The meeting entailed a comprehensive agenda in various sessions, MEC and KPK had the opportunity to exchange knowledge and further increase their capacities. International anti-corruption experts from Transparency International provided input throughout all activities.

MEC’s Acting Executive Director, Cheirollah Sarag, emphasised:”KPK and MEC have a lot in common. Therefore, we want to continue learning from each other, also in other areas of anti-corruption. Cooperation also means friendship and paves the way towards peace.” Follow-ups and a commonly agreed roadmap will follow soon.

KPK’s Commissioner, Mr Saut Situmorang, commented: “Cooperation between our organisations flourishes well. It is great to work with our colleagues from MEC, who are committed to fighting corruption. We look forward to strengthen cooperation by sharing and exchanging our knowledge.”

During the meeting, MEC reflected on its progress since it last visited Indonesia. Recently, the committee produced numerous high-quality reports and vulnerability to corruption assessments on Afghan ministries. MEC’s work was partly based on shared knowledge from their Indonesian colleagues.