Hong Kong’s graft-buster to set up academy to teach tactics to overseas officers
- Academy to be established in February, says Independent Commission Against Corruption head Danny Woo
- Agency also concludes week-long training programme for graft-busters from African and Asian countries
Hong Kong’s graft-buster plans to establish an academy to share its expertise with anti-corruption officers from around the world, it has announced after wrapping up a pilot training programme this week.
Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Commissioner Danny Woo Ying-ming on Wednesday said the Hong Kong International Academy Against Corruption would be established next February.
“The end of the pandemic has provided a golden opportunity for global collaboration on fighting corruption,” he said. “The ICAC has received a surge in demand for professional sharing from different anti-corruption authorities.”
The week-long training programme tackling corruption in infrastructure projects attracted seven African countries and six Asian ones benefiting from China’s Belt and Road Initiative, as well as neighbouring Macau.
Participants included anti-graft agency representatives from South Africa, Mali, Nigeria, Thailand, Mongolia and Pakistan.
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They also spent three days in Guangdong, Zhuhai and Zhongshan on a study tour.
“The aim of the programme was to establish a platform for graft-busters from all countries to exchange their experiences and thoughts in person,” Paul Lau Chi-ho, a principal investigator from the ICAC’s operations department, said.
Mdumiseni Wiseman Nxumalo, a senior manager in risk from South Africa’s special investigating unit, said he had hoped to learn more on how to prevent corruption during his week in the city.
“We were able to see a lot of demonstrations of how these mega-infrastructure projects were being run in this [city],” Nxumalo said.
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Hawaly Kone, auditor investigator of the Central Office of the Fight Against Illicit Enrichment in Mali, highlighted the chance to exchange views with professional counterparts from different backgrounds.
“With the sharing of experience, [for] some challenges I have been facing in my country, some colleagues from other countries may have faced before. [Hence] they may be familiar with the solution, that was insightful for me,” Kone said.
