On 2-4 November 2022, the Economic Crime and Cooperation Division, through the Action on “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” in Central Asia, conducted a three-day awareness raising webinar on “Ethics, Anti-Corruption Compliance, Risk Management and Anti-Bribery for representatives of business entities in the Republic of Uzbekistan”.
The webinar gathered about 40 representatives of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Business Ombudsman Office, small and medium enterprises, Tashkent State University on Law, Anti-Corruption Agency, Ministry of Justice, and Academy of General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The webinar aimed to raise awareness of the business sector on anti-corruption compliance programs and integrity policy, with a special focus made on corruption risk assessment and management. The event also aimed to explain and identify red flags in the context of corruption practices and provide practical examples how to identify and address them. Participants learned about international standards and practices on codes of conduct, conflict of interest and mechanism of cooperation between the public and private sectors in the prevention and fight against corruption. The mechanisms for cooperation between the public and private sectors in the prevention and fight against corruption were also discussed. The event deepened the understanding regarding the importance of integrity due diligence on third parties and set out the basis of an integrity plan and basic steps required for development and implementation of an anti-corruption programme.
Moreover, participants were guided through examples of anti-corruption legislation at the international level followed by case studies and examples illustrating how these acts are practically applied. The strengths and weaknesses of the anti-corruption legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as recent legislative developments in the anti-corruption sphere and emerging challenges faced by the business sector where also discussed. Participants shared their views how the business sector can be encouraged to join and implement the Anti-Corruption Business Charter elaborated and introduced by the Business Ombudsman Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
This activity was organised by the Action on “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime”, in the framework of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023, which is a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The Action is aimed at strengthening capacities to fight and prevent economic crime in five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan).