TWENTY-EIGHT countries from the Asia-Pacific region, including India, have adopted recommendations on fighting domestic and international bribery. The recommendations are made in the newly released Thematic Review on Criminalization of Bribery, which was adopted by the 28 members of the ADB, OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific on 22 September at the Initiative’s 15th Steering Group Meeting, hosted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

The Thematic Review on Criminalization of Bribery analyses the implementation by all 28 ADB/OECD Initiative members of the main international standards on fighting the bribery of domestic and foreign public officials contained in the UN Convention against Corruption and the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. The Review identifies the following key areas in which countries could use criminal law to fight bribery more effectively.

Recommendations include the need to:

“Corruption challenges remain serious in the Asia and Pacific region” said Kunio Senga, Director General of the Asian Development Bank’s Southeast Asia Regional Department. “The attitude of accepting bribery as the price of doing business in many of the countries in our region must change if we are to successfully fight corruption.”

The Initiative was established in 1999 to help governments in the Asia-Pacific region meet international anti-corruption standards. Its Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Asia and the Pacific sets out the goals and standards for fighting corruption in the region. To date, 28 countries and economies from Asia and the Pacific have endorsed the Plan and agreed on implementation mechanisms to achieve its standards. The Plan encourages effective and transparent public services, strong anti-bribery actions, and integrity in business operations. It supports the objectives of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and the United Nations Convention against Corruption.