Enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world - ICAC’s new moves in anti-corruption collaboration
In the past few months, ICAC officers have been tirelessly engaged in exchanges with anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) and experts in the Mainland, Macao and overseas to foster collaborations in combating corruption. Opportunities were also taken to showcase to the international community Hong Kong’s success stories in graft fighting under “One Country, Two Systems”.
Hong Kong, the Mainland and Macao have always worked closely in anti-corruption cooperation. Seizing the opportunity arising from the full resumption of normal travel, the Commissioner led high-level delegations to visit counterparts in the Mainland and Macao to discuss strategic directions for strengthening anti-corruption cooperation. In March this year, the Commissioner paid official visits to the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, the National Commission of Supervision, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and other authorities in Beijing to exchange views on anti-corruption development in the Mainland and Hong Kong. In July, the Commissioner visited Guangdong Province and the Macao Special Administrative Region, engaging in discussions with the ACAs there to enhance anti-corruption cooperation in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. All parties looked forward to strengthening liaison and collaboration in anti-corruption and training initiatives with the ICAC.
The ICAC also sent experienced officers to countries such as Morocco, Mauritius and Indonesia to deliver tailor-made training programmes for their ACAs. These programmes covered a wide range of topics, including financial investigation, asset recovery, systemic prevention and integrity education. The ICAC hopes that Hong Kong's anti-corruption experience would help enhance the anti-corruption capabilities of these ACAs.
In Hong Kong, the ICAC has recently received delegations from the ACAs of Indonesia and Senegal, who visited Hong Kong to study the city’s anti-corruption regime. In addition to attending briefings on Hong Kong’s holistic anti-corruption strategy, the delegations also visited places such as ICAC’s operational facilities and regional office, as well as public bodies including the Civil Service Bureau and the Office of the Ombudsman. Both delegations commended the ICAC for its strong and effective anti-corruption endeavours, and expressed that the high-productive programmes offered valuable insights for their future undertakings.
The ICAC has always strived to expand its global outreach by participating in international events and sharing Hong Kong’s successful anti-corruption experience and best practices. For example, in June this year, two ICAC officers, as members of the Chinese delegation, participated in meetings of the Implementation Review Group and the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the Prevention of Corruption of the United Nations Convention against Corruption held in Vienna, Austria. Aside from attending the sessions, the officers seized the opportunity to connect with representatives from various countries and introduced the anti-corruption efforts of China and Hong Kong. In July, an Assistant Director of the Operations Department spoke at the Pacific Anti-corruption Regional Conference in Fiji, sharing with ACAs and experts of international organisations in the Pacific region the ICAC’s proactive strategies in fighting corruption.
