The international review of Taiwan’s first national report on implementation of the U.N. Convention against Corruption kicked off Aug. 21 in Taipei City, underscoring the country’s commitment to refining measures aimed at ensuring clean governance and corporate practices.
A panel of five foreign experts is scheduled to hold discussions with local officials and nongovernmental organization representatives about the nation’s legal framework and related policies. Comments and suggestions will be announced at the conclusion of the four-day process.
Speaking at the opening of the review, Vice President Chen Chien-jen said that the nation is committed to working with the international community in preventing corruption. In addition to codifying the convention into domestic law, Taiwan has amended the Company Act to bolster anti-money laundering enforcement, promulgated an act on mutual assistance in transnational crime, and strengthened measures to tackling influence peddling, he added.
According to the vice president, Taiwan’s recent achievements in fostering clean governance have been recognized by the global community, as evidenced by the nation’s ranking of 29th, its best performance in the past decade, in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index released Feb. 21 by Transparency International.
While considerable progress has been made, there is room for further improvement, Chen said. Recommendations from the review will inform government efforts to boost integrity across the public and private sectors, he added.
Panel member Jose Ugaz, who served as special prosecutor in the investigation of former Peru President Alberto Fujimori for corruption and human rights abuses, lauded the government’s commitment to enhancing enforcement and prevention measures. Taiwan has undertaken dedicated efforts to eliminate inconsistencies with the convention, he said, adding that the review is expected to help advance this progress.
UNCAC was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2003 and entered into force two years later. Taiwan’s Act to Implement UNCAC was promulgated in 2015.
The first national report on the implementation of the convention was released March 30 by the Agency Against Corruption under the Ministry of Justice. It outlines the country’s progress across the five main UNCAC areas of preventive measures, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation, recovery of illegally obtained assets, and technical assistance and information exchanges. (CPY-E)
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