Confab against corruption ends

Countries in Asia and the Pacific plan to establish an executive council to fight corruption and a fund to finance the campaign. A remote-control educational program center will also be set up under the auspices of the World Bank to promote and coordinate exchanges of information on the anti-corruption policies of the nations involved.

The second Asia-Pacific International Anti-Corruption Conference, organized by the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), wrapped up its meetings Wednesday with the adoption of a joint declaration calling for the council, a fund and an education center.

The next conference will take place in Tokyo at the end of 2001. The proposed executive council for anti-corruption will consist of representatives from members of the ADB and OECD, and contributions to the planned fund will be apportioned among the member nations upon further consultations. The participants in the Seoul session agreed that corruption does harm to market economy, distorts effective allocation of resources and degrades national credit-worthiness, thus impeding general economic growth.

Recommended steps for eradicating corruption were: adherence to international standards and institutions suggested by such international organizations as the U.N., OECD and World Trade Organization; legal, institutional and administrative reforms to ensure greater transparency in the public sector; and strengthened legal framework to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and investigative agencies.

Discussions during the meeting, which was held at COEX in southern Seoul, centered on remedying inadequate measures for preventing corruption among police, procurement and tax officials.

Lee Chol-Hi klimt@donga.com