Global Policy Forum

Experts from nine Asian countries have prepared a working draft of an Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Asia-Pacific. Officials of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Transparency International Australia, UK Department for International Development (DFID), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank also participated in the two-and-half-day meeting at the ADB headquarters. The regional experts, acting in their own capacities, hailed from Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand.

The proposed Action Plan contains legally non-binding principles and standards for strengthening national and regional efforts to combat corruption. Under the agreement, interested governments of the Asia-Pacific region are expected to politically commit to undertake actions to attack bribery and money laundering and to promote public sector integrity in a coordinated, comprehensive manner.

The drafting exercise represents a concrete result of the ADB/OECD Initiative for Asia-Pacific, launched at a workshop held in Manila in October 1999. At that meeting, participants from over 30 countries in Asia and the Pacific called upon ADB and OECD to support national and regional anti-corruption efforts. Participants in a subsequent conference, held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in December 2000, formally endorsed the Initiative.

The Initiative helps the countries of Asia and the Pacific lay the foundations for a sustained and effective fight against corruption. Participating countries exchange experience and strategies on policymaking and institution building, explore national and regional cooperation on anti-corruption strategies, and promote partnerships among key societal partners. The Initiative emphasizes regional cooperation, local ownership, civil society involvement and the active participation of donors.

Clay Wescott, Senior Public Administration Expert, ADB, noted that sponsorship of the Initiative is part of a series of ADB actions supporting countries in their efforts to nurture good governance. "The quality of governance," he said, " is critical to poverty reduction. Since the poor depend heavily on basic services in the public sector, corrupt behavior and an unreliable public administration affect them the most," Wescott explained.

Frédéric Wehrlé, Anti-Corruption Coordinator, OECD, stated that, "the Anti-Corruption Action Plan will give an impetus to the fight against corruption in the Asia-Pacific region. The Initiative benefits from voluntary involvement of countries, focuses on a few key sectors and is action-oriented."

Jaime Guerrero, Commissioner in the Philippines' Presidential Commission Against Graft said, "we in the Philippines will pursue the campaign to fight corruption and will gain further strength in the knowledge that we are no longer alone in this battle."

The draft text prepared by the experts will be proposed to interested countries of the region for their consideration and possible endorsement at the next annual conference of the ADB-OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative. The Government of Japan will host the conference in Tokyo, 28-30 November 2001.

ADB and OECD have been at the forefront of international efforts to delineate standards and guidelines for both public and corporate governance. ADB became the first multilateral development bank to adopt a governance policy in 1995, and three years later approved a detailed anti-corruption policy for its lending and operations. Important OECD agreements include the Anti-Bribery Convention and Revised Recommendation, the Recommendation on Improving Ethical Conduct in the Public Service, and the Principles on Corporate Governance.