Joint Statement 10th South East Asia Parties Against Corruption (SEA-PAC) Meeting

We, the leaders of the anti-corruption agencies in the South East Asian region, gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, attending the 10th session of the South East Asia Parties against Corruption (SEA-PAC) Meeting under the theme: “Investigation and Prevention of Corruption in the Private Sector”

We reaffirm our common understanding that corruption is a global issue threatening the social and economic growth of the South East Asian countries.
We, therefore, commend the incessant, diverse efforts of member agencies to prevent, detect and punish corrupt practices. We also recognize and support bilateral and multilateral approaches to reduce corruption and mitigating its corrosive effect on development efforts in the region.

SEA-PAC also acknowledge the importance of the role of public-private partnerships in promoting integrity and transparency among the business sector.
As concrete measures of co-operation to enhance the capacity of member agencies, we have agreed on the following:

1.    SEA-PAC member agencies, in line with the Article 48 and 49 of the United Nations Convention Aganist Corruption (UNCAC), have established a strong cooperative framework between and among each other so as to facilitate cooperation in the areas of anti-corruption investigation and prevention;

2.    SEA-PAC member agencies have made a significant effort to foster a strong public and private sector co-operation in order to enhance anti-corruption compliance in both sectors;

3.    SEA-PAC member countries recognize that corruption does not only transpire between the public and private sectors, but also between one private entity to another. As such, the private sector’s roles to ensure transparency and integrity in doing business is indeed very important to create a level playing field at the domestic and international levels;

4.    That it is important for South East Asia agencies to have a strong legal framework to support the national anti-corruption work in the private sector, for example having a legal provision on corporate liabilities is equally important to ensure that the private sectors play their role in ensuring proportionate anti-corruption measures in the organizations;

5.    SEA-PAC member agencies have agreed to form a working group to study and discuss on the possibility to include SEA-PAC as an entity under ASEAN; and

6.    SEA-PAC member agencies acknowledge the effort of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to establish the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy (MACA) as an anti-corruption training hub for the South East Asian region.

ISSUED IN KUALA LUMPUR ON 2ND DECEMBER 2014,

MALAYSIAN ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION
ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
ANTI-CORRUPTION UNIT CAMBODIA
CORRUPTION ERADICATION COMMISSION INDONESIA
GOVERNMENT INSPECTION AND ANTI-CORRUPTION AUTHORITY OF LAO PDR
ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, MYANMAR
OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN PHILIPPINES
CORRUPT PRACTICES INVESTIGATION BUREAU OF SINGAPORE
NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION OF THAILAND
GOVERNMENT INSPECTORATE OF VIETNAM