With the theme, “Change and Action,” attendees of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit have unanimously agreed “to adopt stronger mesasures to combat corruption, including denying safe haven to corrupt officials,” as reported by Philstar.com.
The 21 members of the APEC aim “to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region.”
APEC members account for approximately 40 percent of the world’s population, more than half of world gross domestic product and about 44 percent of global trade, says Philstar.com.
“Corruption remains a serious threat to prosperity and development in the region,” according to a joint statement made by the ministers.
“We agreed to leverage collective action to combat corruption and illicit trade by promoting clean government, fostering market integrity and strengthening relevant judicial and law enforcement systems.”
“We agreed to deepen our cooperation, especially in regard to discussions on achieving more durable and balanced global growth, increasing capacity building activities in key areas such as combating corruption and bribery, denying safe haven to corrupt officials, strengthening asset recovery efforts and enhancing transparency in both public and private sectors.”
“We agreed to enhance our efforts to improve transparency and eliminate corruption, including through regular reporting via ACT and other relevant fora on economies’ progress in meeting APEC Leaders’ commitments on anti-corruption and transparency.”
“We encourage member economies, where applicable, to ratify the UN (United Nations) Convention Against Corruption and UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and to take measures to implement their provisions, in accordance with economies’ legal frameworks to dismantle corrupt and illicit networks across the Asia Pacific region,” the joint statement further read.
And true enough, this collective fight is in congruence with PNoy’s commitment for transparent and good governance and the promise of “a cleaner, business-friendly administration” to potential investors.
PNoy ensured that his objectives are clear through his actions—scrimping on his APEC trip with a mere P16.3 million ($375,576) budget, with only 51 delegates joining him on the trip.
Such action continues to reap just rewards—Japan has committed a whopping $3-billion in investments to the Philippines through three giant firms: Marubeni Corp., Itochu Corp. and Toshiba Corp, although as of press time, this figure has not been officially confirmed.
Transparency begets trust. And actions do speak volumes. Despite being put under the microscope because of the travel advisories, the Philippines continues its slow but sure crawl towards progress and development.
(www.asianjournal.com)
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