JAKARTA, Reuters – Indonesia signed a bilateral extradition deal with Singapore on Tuesday. Jakarta hopes this will help the authorities bring those accused of hiding offshore billions in state money to justice.

In a ceremony broadcast on the YouTube channel of Indonesia’s State Secretariat, senior cabinet ministers signed bilateral agreements covering defense and airspace.

These signings were the result of a meeting between Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and President Joko Widodo as part of their annual retreat for leaders.

Indonesia has been frustrated with the extradition issue for years because it is difficult to bring some of those accused of embezzling large sums of money during the Asian Financial Crisis to justice.

Prime Minister Lee declared that the extradition treaty would improve cooperation, combat crime, and send investors a clear signal,” he said during the signing ceremony.

The extradition agreement will allow people to be extradited for 31 crimes. It will also apply to offenses committed more than 18 years ago.

According to the agreement, people will not be allowed to avoid justice simply by changing their citizenship.

According to the statement, “Increased penalties for crimes in Indonesia and Singapore will result from the execution of the criminal Extradition Agreement.”

The signing of an extradition and defense cooperation treaty was overseen by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Indonesian president, and prime minister Lee in 2007. However it wasn’t ratified ever by Indonesian parliament.

Indonesia has set up a new so-called “BLBI” task force that is going after https://www.reuters.com/article/indonesia-debt-idUSL3N2NM1FH $8 billion of bailout funds given to bank owners and borrowers after the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s that was never repaid.

According to the ministry, “Specifically for Indonesia, the application of the extradition accord will reach effectively fugitives from the past and facilitate implementation of a president regulation on BLBI.”

Another agreement between the countries was signed to give Indonesia more control over the airspace of the Riau, Natuna islands, close to each country, and a defense deal.