NAB delegation attends UN convention against corruption in Egypt

ISLAMABAD: On the directions of Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal, Chairman National Accountability Bureau, Husnain Ahmad, Director General, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), headed a Pakistan delegation to represent Pakistan in the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) held at Sharm El-Shaikh, Egypt from 13th to 17th December 2021.

Liaquat Ali Warriach, from Permanent Mission of Pakistan, Vienna, Austria and H.E. Mr Sajid Bilal, Ambassador of Pakistan to Cairo, Egypt, were also in attendance.

The conference was one of the world's largest anti-corruption gatherings and brings together people from the Member States, parliaments, inter-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector. Representatives from more than 180 State Parties participated.

The conference reviewed the implementation of the UNCAC, the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument and discussed preventing corruption, improved international cooperation to better tackle corruption and asset recovery. The country statement was delivered by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The Pakistani delegation actively participated in all the events, its main plenary as well as side events arranged by the State Parties to the UNCAC.

Director-General NAB Husnain Ahmad tabled Pakistan’s strong commitment to the UNCAC through pro-active anti-corruption strategy, i.e., implementation status of UNCAC, prevention, asset recovery and technical assistance. Husnain Ahmad strongly underscored Pakistan’s stance in a panel discussion arranged by the People’s Republic of China.

The Pakistani delegation also held bilateral meetings with the heads of sister agencies of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Sri Lanka, Australia and the US to discuss bilateral issues on cooperation in the fight against corruption, exchange of information regarding fugitive and recovery and repatriation of stolen assets through international cooperation. The conference ended on a strong note of commitment by all the state parties and adopted resolutions on issues and challenges implementing the UNCAC.