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AKARTA: Indonesia has become a signatory for the establishment of the United Nations’ International Anticorruption Academy in Vienna, Austria together with 29 countries.

“We hope the government will ratify the agreement soon,” Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)deputy chairman Haryono Umar said Tuesday.

He added that the academy would be open to anticorruption practitioners at public as well as private institutions at the local and regional as well as international levels.

Launched on Sept. 2 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the academy is a joint initiative by the Austrian government, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and the European Anti-Fraud Office and will come into full operation next year.

It is earmarked as a pioneering institution that aims to overcome current shortcomings in knowledge and practice in the field of anti-corruption.

It will function as an independent center of excellence in the field of anticorruption education, training, networking and cooperation, as well as of academic research, the academy says on its website, www.iaca-info.org. — JP