ISLAMABAD: The heads of anti-corruption bodies in member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation have acknowledged the need for creating a joint anti-corruption forum to interact on a regular basis for deliberating on anti-corruption issues and other areas of mutual cooperation.

The proposal to create the forum was floated by National Accountability Bureau Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry at a two-day Saarc seminar on anti-corruption which concluded at a hotel here on Tuesday.

The NAB chief read out a joint declaration at the conclusion of the seminar in which the participants resolved to work collectively to find out the causes of corruption and identify ways of reducing and eradicating the menace from their countries.

They agreed to share experiences, expertise, tools and techniques among the Saarc states to identify corruption and corrupt practices and their eradication from the region.

The participants proposed to initiate programmes for capacity building of personnel of anti-corruption authorities in the Saarc countries.

They held a thorough discussion on issues relating to awareness (education) and prevention, enforcement (investigation) and prosecution, international cooperation, asset recovery and technical assistance and information sharing.

The participants agreed to make joint efforts at Saarc platform for creating public awareness and formulate guidelines for the proposed anti-corruption forum in consultation with and approval of their respective governments.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2016