Global officials vow to strengthen int'l anti-corruption cooperation

Representatives at the plenary meeting of the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network) have vowed to enhance international cooperation on anti-corruption endeavors, Azernews reports, citing Xinhua.

Held from Tuesday to Friday in Beijing, the meeting was attended by nearly 400 representatives from 105 countries and international organizations.

Speaking highly of the platform the network provided for international cooperation in combating corruption, Jorge Messias, head of Brazil's Attorney General's Office, said member states of the network should further strengthen partnerships at both bilateral and multilateral levels to achieve more tangible and practical results with the network.

Guo Yong, head of the Institute for Discipline Inspection and Supervision of Tsinghua University, stressed that countries should avoid politicizing the issue of corruption and instead approach it from a criminal perspective while enhancing trust and maintaining close communication.

Mamitiana Rajaonarison, director general of Madagascar's Financial Intelligence Unit, called for more experience sharing and parallel investigations to address forms of corruption in the financial sector that are characterized by their covert nature and the difficulties in collecting evidence.

Efforts should be made to promote information exchange, legal assistance, asset recovery, and whistle-blower protection through robust partnerships, according to Dean of the International Anti-Corruption Academy Slagjana Taseva.

During a high-level forum of the four-day plenary meeting, the Beijing Consensus on Law Enforcement Cooperation and Denial of Safe Havens for Corruption was passed, reiterating the network's zero-tolerance position on corruption.

The GlobE Network was launched in June 2021. Anti-corruption law-enforcement bodies from more than 120 countries and regions have now joined the network.