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Kuwait plans to adopt laws to promote transparency

CAIRO: The State of Kuwait is set to adopt key laws to promote transparency, as well as strengthening its battle against corruption, said a senior official here yesterday. The draft laws have drawn increasing levels of support from both the government and the National Assembly (parliament), said Ahmad Al-Barrak Al-Heifi, the Assistant Undersecretary at the Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs' office.

Al-Heifi revealed the government's intentions in an interview with KUNA following the conclusion of an international conference on anti-corruption strategies, at which he represented Kuwait. "The democratic system of Kuwait has enabled the country to take the lead in the areas of transparency, accountability and supervision," he said, highlighting the roles of the legislative authority and the State Audit Bureau (SAB) in this regard.

Kuwait has gone into the lead among the Arab countries in introducing the e-government system which facilitated the drive to promote transparency," Al-Heifi added, hailing the discussions during the just-concluded 'Creativity and Innovation in Arab Administration' conference as "very fruitful.

The conference provided an opportunity for the pioneering Arab countries to exchange their experience in the fight against administrative corruption," he explained, adding that the event "is part of the efforts being made by the Arab countries to bring into full play the role of the international legal instruments in this domain, notably the United Nations Convention against Corruption, negotiated during the seventh session of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Negotiation of the Convention against Corruption between January 21, 2002, and October 1, 2003.

He continued, "The conference urged the Middle East and North Africa countries to step up the development of laws to combat corruption and enhance the rule of law. The delegates, cognizant of the fact that combating corruption is pivotal to protecting national economies and financial systems against negative practices, were unanimous in calling for the adoption of national laws to realize the concept of good governance and promote transparency. They also urged reform for the educational system and promoting a culture of virtue and good conduct with a view to raising a new generation aware of the risks of corruption," he added.

The conference was organized by the Arab Administrative Development Organization (ARADO) in collaboration with the Transparency International - a global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption, in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Arab Regional Parliamentarians Against Corruption (ARPAC).

Beside Al-Heifi, Kuwait was represented by Faisal Al-Ghareeb, the Civil Service Commission's (CSC) Assistant Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Faisal Al-Ghareeb, Dr. Mahmoud Abdulaziz Al-Jamal, a Professor of Administrative Sciences at Kuwait University, and Basma Baher Al-Obaid from the Public Authority for Youth and Sports (PAYS).

© Kuwait Times 2010