Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies Sunday pledged to combat corruption in both public and private sectors.
After concluding a two-day summit in Peru's capital Lima, the leaders expressed concerns in a declaration over corruption, which they said is "a serious threat to social and economic development in the region." "We recognized that when criminal entities collude with corrupt public and private sector officials, it resulted in a culture of impunity and financial exploitation of the legitimate economy," the declaration said.
The leaders agreed to leverage their collective will to combat corruption and related transnational illicit networks by prompting clean government, supporting public-private partnerships, fostering market integrity, and transparent financial systems, it said.
In support of earlier APEC anti-corruption commitments, they praised efforts undertaken by member economies to develop comprehensive anti-corruption strategies.
"These include efforts to restore the public trust and protect against the abuse of our financial system through financial intelligence and law enforcement cooperation related to corrupt payments and illicit financial flows," the document said.
A total of 19 leaders from APEC member economies attended the meeting, part of the APEC Leaders' Week on Nov. 16-23.
Established in 1989, APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
Source: Xinhua
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