Saudi Arabia takes part in second Dushanbe anti-financial corruption forum

Saudi Arabia, represented by the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), participated in the second Dushanbe International Forum on Combating Financial Corruption, held today in the Republic of Tajikistan. The Saudi delegation was led by Mazin bin Ibrahim Al-Kahmous, President of Nazaha, and attended by Khalid bin Abdullah Al-Shamrani, Saudi Ambassador to Tajikistan.

In his address, Al-Kahmous reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to combating all forms of corruption in line with the goals of Vision 2030. He outlined the Kingdom’s efforts, including the formation of a high-level committee to develop the national anti-corruption strategy in partnership with relevant authorities, and highlighted the authority’s independence and direct reporting to the King as stipulated by its regulations.

Al-Kahmous also noted Saudi Arabia’s efforts to strengthen international cooperation, such as the establishment of the GlobE Network—a global operational network for anti-corruption law enforcement authorities—in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The network now includes 257 agencies from 137 countries. He called on network members to sign an information exchange agreement to expedite asset recovery and repatriation processes.

He highlighted Nazaha’s global initiative to measure corruption rates, which is being developed in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme and the International Anti-Corruption Academy. He also noted that Nazaha has signed over 38 international memoranda of understanding with counterpart organizations in the anti-corruption field.

Al-Kahmous thanked Tajikistan for its warm welcome and expressed his satisfaction with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Nazaha and the State Agency for Financial Control and Combating Corruption of Tajikistan to enhance cooperation in preventing and combating corruption.

The forum addressed several topics, including the detection and investigation of corruption crimes, development of preventive measures, strengthening international cooperation, leveraging modern technologies, government financial oversight and auditing, and the protection of public funds and assets.

This participation reflects Saudi Arabia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen international partnerships in combating corruption and expand cooperation with counterpart agencies, particularly in Central Asian countries.