RIYADH — Saudi Arabia, represented by the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), will host the first ministerial meeting of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Agencies in Islamic countries in Jeddah.

The meeting on December 20-21, to be attended by enforcement agencies in the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), will adopt the Makkah Convention.

The meeting will discuss a number of crucial topics, including the approval of the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Convention for anti-corruption law enforcement in the member states of the OIC, the second largest international organization after the United Nations, with 57 members.

The convention seeks to achieve several goals, including strengthening cooperation between anti-corruption enforcement agencies; through exchanging information and investigation into cross-border corruption crimes among anti-corruption law enforcement agencies, preventing and investigating corruption crimes as well as prosecuting the perpetrators, denying safe havens for the corrupt, and recovering proceeds of crimes.

The meeting comes out of Saudi Arabia's keenness to activate its international initiatives aimed at combating corruption with the participation of the international community in efforts to protect the integrity and combat corruption, benefit and exchange experiences in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), as well as the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which made governance, transparency, accountability and combating corruption one of its main pillars.

Heads and representatives of anti-corruption agencies in the OIC member states will participate in the meeting, in addition to several international organizations, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, and a number of experts in the field of protecting integrity and combating corruption from Saudi Arabia and abroad. — SPA