Delegates from across Asia will be here to discuss government and industry strategies for enhancing integrity and transparency.
"Qatar recognises the necessity and value of ethical behavior across all sectors of our society," said Ibrahim Al Sada, NCIT Secretary-General.
"Our goal is to be a global leader in the fight against corruption and we are honoured to welcome delegates from across Asia to join us for this strategic conference."
The NCIT was constituted last year to support Qatar’s membership in the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
"Qatar intends to be a fully engaged member of this UN convention. Ethics and transparency are vital to the success and healthy growth of any society and Qatar is no exception," said Al Sada.
The NCIT will lead and coordinate efforts across government, the private and educational sectors using three-fold strategy: raising awareness of integrity and transparency; promoting a strong anti-corruption legislative framework and strategic law enforcement and facilitating effective compliance. The country’s State Audit Bureau (SAB) is the government agency which will be working closely with NCIT to accomplish these goals.
"It takes political will, institutional ability and integrity across all sectors of society to create reforms to fight corruption," said Salah Al Ali, Chairman of the NCIT and President of the SAB. "NCIT, with support from the global anti-corruption community, is aiming to make such reforms by fostering a culture of integrity and transparency in Qatar and by coordinating the work of corruption detection and investigation."
According to the latest ‘Corruption Perception Index’ of Transparency International, Qatar ranked 32nd out of 180 countries with a score of six on a scale of one to ten. While, Qatar is the highest-placed Arab state in the report, the aim is to strive for higher levels of transparency and further improvement in the standing of Qatar in the Index. This requires concerted action through an independent agency, said Al Ali.
Qatar became a ratified member of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in 2007 and one of the requirements of the UNCAC was the creation of an independent anti-corruption agency in the country. Accordingly, the NCIT was created by Emiri Decree No. (84) of 2007. Other members of the NCIT are Abdul Aziz Sultan Al Malki, representing the Qatar Central Bank, Hadi M Al Hajri, representing the Attorney-General of Qatar, Captain Nasser Messfer M Al Qahtani, from the Ministry of Interior, Yahya S Al Naemi, representing the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Khalil Ibrahim Al Jufairi, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Alexander N Kouliy, representing Qatar Petroleum. Among those expected to attend the conference are representatives from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Transparency International, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, OECD, International Chamber of Commerce, the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption, supreme audit institutions, anti-corruption agencies and Transparency societies of a number of countries from the region, major firms and other government agencies.
"This shows the level of interest internationally on the issue of anti-corruption," said Al Ali.
The conference will have introductory sessions and cover strategic management, education and awareness, corruption prevention and controls and detection and investigation.
