Fighting Corruption Is Our Common Goal

Fighting Corruption Is Our Common Goal

Fighting corruption is one of the primary conditions for achieving economic growth and social justice. Uncompromising and resolute fight against this evil has become a common goal of countries around the world. Uzbekistan prioritizes strengthening and expanding international cooperation to achieve concrete and effective results in this track. Malaysia is considered a significant partner for our country in this regard.

Malaysia’s successful anti-corruption efforts, legal systems, and innovation initiatives serve as a model for other countries in the global economy. Blockchain technologies, digital surveillance systems, and new electronic platforms are among the advanced innovative approaches Malaysia uses to prevent corruption.

Malaysia’s ranking of 57^th out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2023, along with the government’s goal of ranking 25^th in 10 years, clearly shows Malaysia’s success in implementing anti-corruption reforms and meeting current goals.

“Since the start of our activities, Malaysia has been one of our valued and beneficial partners,” Akmal Burkhanov, Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan, says. “The signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between our agencies during the visit of Azam bin Baki, Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), to Tashkent in 2022 became the determining factor for both more bilateral activities and long-term cooperation between Uzbekistan and Malaysia.

Effective cooperation is achieved within the framework of the Memorandum through sharing experience, improving interaction, training personnel, exchanging information, and providing technical assistance. We conducted an exchange of information to educate the public on corruption, increase their awareness of the media, and promote integrity campaigns to increase public involvement in preventing and combating corruption. 

I am certain that our cooperation will yield new achievements and results soon, as we have jointly established ambitious goals and plans.”

Indeed, the visit to Malaysia in August 2024 of the delegation of Uzbekistan led by Akmal Burkhanov, which comprised of representatives of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and the Department on Combating Economic Crimes at the General Prosecutor’s Office, was another important step in expanding practical contacts between the agencies responsible for combating corruption in the two countries.    

During the visit, the delegation held a meeting with Arman Azha Abu Hanifah, Chairman of the Special Select Committee on Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption of the Senate of the Parliament of Malaysia, to exchange views on the role of parliament in forming a transparent and accountable governance system in ensuring an effective fight against corruption, as well as to share experience and approaches of the two countries in this regard.

“Thanks to the political will of the leaders of the two states, the inter-parliamentary dialogue between Uzbekistan and Malaysia is also reaching a qualitatively new level. It is also worth noting the effective functioning of parliamentary friendship and cooperation groups,” Jakhongir Shirinov, Chairman of the Committee on Anti-Corruption and Judicial Affairs of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, noted. “I believe that expanding inter-parliamentary cooperation, filling it with new content, exchanging experience in the field of rule-making are mutually beneficial for both countries.

In particular, at the end of last year, the Legislative Chamber submitted to the Senate a bill ‘On ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government of Malaysia on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters’ (Tashkent, June 8, 2023). The signing of this Agreement is aimed at establishing a legal basis for mutual legal assistance between law enforcement and judicial authorities of the two states in the investigation and trial of criminal cases, strengthening solidarity and cooperation in the fight against crime and ensuring justice in both countries.”

The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism of Malaysia seeks to open up government and change the culture of governance by placing accountability, transparency and integrity at the heart of public policy and administration.

At a meeting with Edmund Gomes, Chairman of the Board of the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism, issues of strengthening national legislation on preventing conflicts of interest, as well as sharing experiences and developing human resources, establishing an exchange of information and professional materials on preventing and combating corruption were discussed.

Meeting with Muhammad Mohan, President of Transparency International Malaysia, focused on a range of issues, including the engagement of non-governmental organizations in the fight against corruption, the implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption and the introduction of international standards into national legislation.

During the visit, meetings were also held with the leadership of the Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Anti-Corruption Academy, the National Anti-Financial Crime Center (NFCC) under the administration of the Prime Minister’s Department, the Malaysian Institute of Integrity, as well as Malaysia Corruption Watch (MCW) independent, non-governmental and non-partisan organization.

Plans to expand practical cooperation were outlined during a meeting with Azam bin Baki, Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. The delegation of Uzbekistan was provided with a detailed overview of the Commission’s activities, priorities and work of its structural divisions, including Human Resources Management and Administration, Governance Investigation, Record Management and Information, etc.

Azam bin Baki, Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, expressed the following thoughts in the interview:

“Today, large-scale work is being carried out around the world to combat corruption, and countries are taking scaled measures. I believe that sharing experience in this area is very important. 

Since the adoption of the Anti-Corruption Act in 1967, our government has achieved a lot, and as a result, we have gained significant experience in this area. The Commission’s officers are ready to share their knowledge on combating and preventing corruption, as well as training programs in this area with the Anti-Corruption Agency of Uzbekistan. We, in turn, are ready to study Uzbekistan’s best practices in the fight against corruption, since in recent years we have seen that large-scale reforms in this area have been carried out in your country, and we also see that you are achieving great success.”

The meeting of the Uzbek delegation with Shamshun Baharin bin Mohd Jamil, Director General of the National Anti-Financial Crime Center under the administration of the Prime Minister’s Department, provided an opportunity to exchange experiences in detection, prevention, suppression and combating financial crimes. At the meeting with representatives of the Malaysia Corruption Watch (MCW) organization, attention was paid to the issues of active involvement of civil society institutions in the fight against corruption and the introduction of effective mechanisms of public control.

Following the visit, agreements were reached on the exchange of experience and information in lawmaking, the development of special courses, seminars and training programs for employees of anti-corruption agencies, and conducting joint research to study the effectiveness of various measures to combat corruption.

Also, the draft ‘National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2030’ developed in Uzbekistan was further refined taking into account the proposals and recommendations of Malaysian experts.  

In cooperation with the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy (MACA), the work will be continued to develop special courses and training programs for employees of anti-corruption agencies aimed at identifying and preventing corruption, as well as joint research  to study the effectiveness of various measures to combat corruption. 

“Malaysia is one of our key partners providing both methodological and technical assistance in creating the Virtual Anti-Corruption Academy, which is aimed at continuously improving the level of knowledge of the public and civil servants in the fight against corruption in our country. The Anti-Corruption Academy of Malaysia has many years of experience in training professional anti-corruption personnel for the public and non-governmental sectors, as well as developing modern methods of combating corruption in the world community. Representatives of Uzbekistan are also studying on the Academy’s free online courses. Its rich experience and achievements will serve as one of the best examples for us in the effective organization and improvement of the activities of the Virtual Academy in all aspects,” Khudoyberdi Tursunbekov, head of the Anti-Corruption Research and Training Center of the Law Enforcement Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, emphasized.

Cooperation with the Malaysian Institute of Integrity is aimed at introducing standards of ethics and integrity in the civil service, developing analytical reports and recommendations for improving policies and practices in this area, as well as forming the portrait of an honest civil servant.

“In Malaysia, Integrity Units have been established in government organizations and enterprises with a state share,” Firuz Makhmudov, Director of the Center for Professional Training of Lawyers by International Standards under the Tashkent State University of Law, says. “The activities of these units are fully coordinated by MACC and they are independent from organizations and enterprises, and before taking up their duties, employees must undergo training courses at the Anti-Corruption Academy for 1-3 months. Malaysia’s experience in this regard is extremely important for New Uzbekistan, which is introducing preventive mechanisms to immunize civil servants with the integrity vaccine. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the State Program 2025 proposes to introduce the practice of checking civil servants for propensity for corruption, especially for the purpose of identifying persons who entered the civil service by mistake or for purposes of illicit enrichment, as well as selecting honest personnel for government bodies, which further increases the importance for us of studying the most advanced achievements in the experience of this country.”

In general, these agreements open the way for combining the legal and practical achievements of both countries and making considerable progress in the fight against corruption. Mutual experience and trust will make us more courageous and determined.