Doha: The State of Qatar participated yesterday in the seventh meeting of the Anti-Corruption Inter-Ministerial Committee of member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.
The delegation of the State of Qatar to the meeting, which was organised via video communication technology, was headed by President of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority (ACTA) H E Hamad bin Nasser Al Missned.
In a speech he gave at the meeting, Al Missned indicated the keenness of the State of Qatar to continue its national efforts in the areas of protecting integrity and combating corruption in the past two years through its adoption of a number of projects, the most recent of which was the update of the penal code to criminalise bribery of a foreign public official, the adoption of the Code of Conduct and Integrity of Public Officials, and the issuance of a law to promote public-private partnership, the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing.Law, and the Unified Economic Register Law that guarantees transparency in all financial transactions in the country in accordance with the best international standards.
He also stressed that the close cohesion between GCC states makes enhancing transparency and integrity, and combating corruption in our countries a common challenge that requires concerted efforts and synergistic endeavours, as well as benefiting from all Gulf expertise and experiences. The meeting discussed ways to enhance integrity and to combat corruption, saying these are the most important initiatives and ideas which are aimed at enriching the joint Gulf action in this important field, namely preventing and combating corruption, because of the importance of these efforts in strengthening the work of the public and private sectors in order to serve the sustainable development goals of all GCC countries. .
It is worth noting that the State of Qatar has completed all preparations for the second session to review the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, and at the same time, it is keen to fulfil international and regional obligations, including those related to the joint Gulf action within the GCC scope by providing views of the various projects submitted for study and for expressing opinion.
The State of Qatar also presented a number of guidelines with the aim of developing work related to mutual legal assistance, asset recovery, integrity in government contracts, and a guiding teaching curriculum on combating corruption in faculties of law and Sharia. Work is currently underway for finalising the guide manual for integrity in the civil service in line with international standards, and in conformity with the legal and administrative systems in the Arab Gulf states.
