First Meeting Of G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group Concluded On Friday

The first meeting of the G20 Anti-corruption Working Group (ACWG), which began on March 1, ended on Friday with a call for increased law enforcement cooperation in the investigation of corruption and related economic crimes.

Rahul Singh, Additional Secretary, DoPT, and Chair of the G20 ACWG, stated that over the last three days, there have been intensive and fruitful discussions on a variety of key focal points, including asset recovery, fugitive economic offenders, formal and informal channels of cooperation for information sharing, institutional frameworks for combating corruption, and mutual legal assistance, among others.

This included presentations and interventions by UNODC, OECD, Egmont Group, Interpol, and IMF country delegates and experts.

At the conclusion of the ACWG meeting, Rahul Singh and Giovanni Tartaglia Polcini, Head of Task Force, Co-chair, G20 ACWG, Italy, addressed the media.

The ACWG meeting was enriched by keynote addresses from dignitaries such as Girish Chandra Murmu, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Praveen Kumar Srivastava, the Central Vigilance Commissioner of India, Nitin Gupta, the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Sanjay Kumar Mishra, the Director of the Enforcement Directorate, and Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Rahul Singh went on to say that during the deliberations, the delegates worked hard to reach a conclusion on the draft  text of the High-Level Principles, which are on the agenda for the ACWG during India's G20 presidency.

He stated that significant progress has been made in discussing high-level principles such as improving information sharing for fighting corruption and related economic crimes, strengthening asset recovery mechanisms for fighting corruption and related economic crimes, strengthening law enforcement cooperation for action against corruption and related economic crime, and promoting the integrity and effectiveness of public bodies responsible for Preventing and Combating Corruption.

According to the official, a side event on leveraging ICT to curb corruption in the public sector was held on the first day of the ACWG, an area in which India's recent initiatives such as the GEM Portal and DBT have been globally recognised.

During this event, leading Indian experts demonstrated how India has channeled the power of ICT to combat corruption in public service delivery.

The first meeting of the G20 ACWG was attended by over 90 delegates from 20 member countries, 10 invitee countries, and 9 international organisations.

According to an official, India expressed its heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for Italy's presence as co-chair of the G20 ACWG.