OREANDA-NEWS. June 24, 2008. Senior government officials, non-governmental and business groups from almost 30 countries will meet on 25-27 June 2008 in Tbilisi, Georgia, at the 7th General Meeting of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) to step up their fight against corruption.

The conference will be held at the Sheraton Metechi Palace in Tbilisi and is open to the media. It will be conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation into Russian and Georgian.
Numerous anti-corruption efforts were made in Eastern Europe and Central Asia over the past few years, but the progress is still limited. While the new EU member states have made some progress, most countries still have a long way to go to ensure sustainability of their anti-corruption work and to implement international standards. The level of corruption in the former Soviet states remains high, and in some countries has even worsened.

During the past few years Georgia has made significant progress in fighting corruption. Holding this international conference in Tbilisi is recognition of the country’s efforts. However, much remains to be done and the anti-corruption reform needs to be continued and reinforced.
Political will is indispensible to fight corruption. Access to effective methods to prevent and repress corruption is equally important. In Tbilisi delegates will discuss how to enhance their anti-corruption work in the following areas:

International organisations together with country delegates will talk about the added value of anti-corruption conventions and their monitoring mechanisms to support countries’ efforts.
Law-enforcement officials from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Romania, Switzerland, the USA and other countries will discuss challenges in investigating and prosecuting complex and high level corruption cases.
Government officials from Estonia, Lithuania, France, Romania, the USA and other countries will examine effective tools to prevent conflict of interests in public administration.
Politicians, journalists and NGOs from several countries will debate how to strengthen support of citizens to anti-corruption reforms.

For the first time business associations and private firms from the OECD and ACN countries will discuss ways to promote business integrity and fight corruption in the region. 
The meeting will provide its participants with knowledge about the best and worst practices in the fight against corruption in the region. It is also expected that the delegates from the former Soviet states will agree to continue the monitoring programme under the ACN Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan, which provides peer pressure for the governments to reinforce their anti-corruption reforms.
The meeting is hosted by the Government of Georgia, and is organised by the OECD together with the OSCE, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative Georgia (ABA/ROL Initiative) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).