Putrajaya, 19 Feb. – The 32nd APEC Anti-Corruption and Transparency Experts Working Group (ACTWG) Meeting involving 19 economies was held virtually today.

This meeting was chaired by Ms. Julie Read, Director and Chief Executive of Serious Fraud Office (SFO) New Zealand.

The APEC economy members participating are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Republic of Korea, Republic of the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, China Taipei, Thailand, United States of America and Vietnam.

Ms. Julie Read congratulated MACC in organising the 'Gender Mainstreaming and Women Empowerment to Fight Corruption' held in February 2020 and the 31st ACTWG Meeting.

In response to the call to ensure that the 'Gender Mainstreaming' agenda keeps moving forward, New Zealand will be hosting a webinar on the same topic.

At the meeting, MACC presented the efforts taken to combat corruption through her enforcement, prevention and education strategies as stipulated in the MACC Act 2009 which is also in line with the Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption.

Among other continuous efforts taken are the ongoing effort to recover 1MDB's funds, international cooperation in corruption investigations case and ensuring that all reports are evaluated and looked into.

In efforts made to inculcate anti-corruption values in Malaysia, the MACC Community Education Division is actively in organising campaigns and promotions activities to disseminate anti-corruption message.

In conjunction with the International Anti-Corruption Day in December 2020, the MACC had focused on anti-corruption issues among local government authorities throughout Malaysia with the involvement of MACC officers at both headquarters and states.

The meeting was agreed that Malaysia will prepare and produce a compilation relating to good practices containing policies and corruption prevention measures during the Covid-19 pandemic. This effort is also embedded as one of the ACTWG Work plan agenda for 2021.

The MACC was represented by TPj Mohd Hafaz Nazar, MACC Director of Policy, Planning and Research Division.