Vienna Chapter
Mr. Chairman,
1. Allow me at the outset on behalf of the Group of 77 and China to
congratulate you and members of the Bureau on your election. We assure you
of our full support throughout all the forthcoming sessions.
Mr. Chairman,
2. No country in the world is completely free from corruption: it is
a universal phenomenon and a social illness whose systemic impact
threatens the social fabric of nations and thus their very existence.
Corruption must therefore not be allowed to develop into an insurmountable
problem of a multi-dimensional nature.
3. The Group of 77 and China attaches great significance to the task
we face. We underscore the importance of creating an effective and binding
international legal instrument against corruption which embodies a
comprehensive approach. Any such instrument must establish an
internationally binding legal framework encompassing prevention,
detection, criminalization, investigation, prosecution and penalization of
the perpetrators, remedies, rehabilitation and a monitoring mechanism.
Likewise, it is of fundamental importance that the instrument address
international cooperation, and mutual technical and legal assistance among
States, including support of the private sector, in their efforts to
tackle the problem of corruption.
Mr. Chairman,
4. It is also a matter of considerable importance to the G-77 and
China that special attention be given by the convention to broad
definitions covering public and private corruption. Developing countries
are at special risk and are especially vulnerable to the impact of
corruption, and therefore put great importance on the efficiency and
effectiveness of any future convention. It is vital that the document
promote and strengthen international cooperation as well as the
institutions and the capacity of the State Parties to fight corruption,
while protecting the sovereignty of individual countries.
5. Moreover, in the view of the G-77 and China, particular attention
should be paid to the provisions on information exchange, lifting bank
secrecy in cases where corruption is detected, identifying clients, record
keeping, criteria for determining the country of origin of illicit assets,
tracing transfer of funds of illicit origin; forfeiture and confiscation
of the proceeds of corruption; and shifting the burden of proof. It also
attaches great importance to the issue of repatriation of assets of
illicit origin to the countries of origin, which should be addressed in an
appropriate manner by the Convention. In this regard we fully support the
proposal made by the delegation of Peru to organize a seminar to deal with
the problems of repatriation of assets of illicit origin.
6. While expressing appreciation for the work done by the
Secretariat, G-77 and China would like to stress the importance of
documents being produced within an appropriate time and as accurately as
possible. Moreover, various measures such as avoiding parallel meetings,
limiting the number of venues and ensuring the availability of
interpretation and translation of documents in all six languages of the
United Nations, would help to maximize the efficiency of the Committee's
work by enabling the broadest possible participation by all member
countries in the negotiation process, including those with relatively
small delegations. Likewise, we call on donor countries to provide
voluntary contributions for the participation of LDCs on a non-selective
basis.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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