UAE introduced raft of anti-corruption measures: Al Awadi

Riyadh: march 17, 2013 (WAM) - The UAE has introduced a set of legislative, judicial and executive measures and ratified a number of Arab and international anti-corruption conventions within its efforts to fight corruption, Dr. Abdul Rahim Al Awadi, Assistant Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs, has said. He told the first GCC meeting of heads of anti-corruption and integrity agencies in Riyadh that the UAE had ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the International Convention against Corruption and the Arab Anti-corruption Convention out of its firm belief in creating a mechanism to criminalize corrupt practices. He added that anti-corruption efforts under the guidance of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan had earned the country top rankings in key Arab and international indexes against corruption. Transparency International, which monitors and publicises corruption around the world, last year placed the UAE as the world's 27th cleanest nation and the highest place in the Arab world. The UAE has scooped the first place globally in the field of efficiency of governmental fiscal policy. It has also achieved the seventh place in the efficiency of financial management in the public sector within the Global Competitiveness Report 2012 issued by the International Institute of Management Development in Switzerland. ''We believe that corruption fighting is only possible through an integrated raft of measures including prevention, training, criminalization, technical assistance and international collective collaboration... though the UAE has gained leading rankings in international indexes, but it is more determined and resolve to pursue its efforts to further develop and refine its measures and mechanisms to fill gaps so as to reach the optimum compliance with international and regional standards,'' he added. – Emirates News Agency, WAM