HAVING achieved a measure of success in the fight against graft, the Anti-Corruption Commission has won the trust of the people.
Complaints have poured in last year, with the commission receiving 10,543 letters, five times more than in the previous year.
Bribery and corruption pose obstacles to and delay the development of a nation. Myanmar ranks poorly on the world corruption list, and the corruption level in the country is still alarming. Myanmar has also fallen into the list of Least Developed Countries due to corruption and has remained underdeveloped.
Myanmar is addressing the complexities of anti-money laundering at the national level, placing high priority on cross-border crimes. On 14 November, the President's Office issued Order No. 45/2019 on anti-money laundering, complementing the existing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Law. Paragraph 2 of the order covers a wide scope and clearly defines banks and financial institutions, beneficial ownership, proceeds of crime, legal arrangements, businesses, and transfers related to money laundering.
Addressing these complex issues requires more than anti-corruption efforts: it needs a well-coordinated approach. Not just in Myanmar, in most countries, institutions tackling such complex tasks are under-resourced.
Myanmar is also facing challenges because the institutions responsible for combating illicit trade, terrorism, insurgency, money laundering, and corruption are not well-coordinated even within the country, let alone at the regional level.
Not only corruption, but complex cross-border crimes such as human-trafficking, drug trafficking, and illicit trade are impediments to the development of human society in all countries. The mechanics of these interconnected crimes and their linkage to the formal economy should be well-managed.
Target 16.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda calls for substantial reduction of corruption and bribery in all their forms and the development of effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels.
To reach this target, we must significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets, and combat all forms of organized crimes by 2030.
As the SDGs reflect a broad and universal agenda to secure sustainable development, it is of utmost importance for countries around the world to achieve the targets envisaged in the 2030 Agenda.
Therefore, the international community needs a holistic approach for resolving the interconnected problem of cross-border crimes and corruption, which requires more than one State's response, as it is not an easy enough job for a country to do alone.
We are confident that we can overcome the challenges no matter how difficult they may be, if we work together.
GNLM
