PM to launch national anti-corruption strategies on May 7

PUTRAJAYA: The government will launch the National Anti-Corruption Strategies 2024-2028 (NACS) to enhance governance and integrity in public administration and government-related companies.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the NACS, which will replace the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) 2019-2023, will be officially launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre on May 7.

He said that the launch of NACS is a government initiative to develop a national anti-corruption strategy in line with Article 5 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, which stipulates that all member states, including Malaysia, should produce a document that serves as the primary reference for anti-corruption initiatives at the national level.

"The NACP, which ended in 2023, was identified as one of the indirect factors that helped improve the country's reputation in the Corruption Perceptions Index in 2019, when Malaysia jumped to 51st place from 61st place in 2018.

"For this reason, the NACS was developed with an emphasis on five main strategies: education, public accountability, people's voices, enforcement, and incentives," said Azam in a statement.

The ceremony will also be attended by the Deputy Prime Ministers, Cabinet ministers, Chief Secretary to the Government, ministry secretaries-general, state government secretaries, as well as government-linked company chiefs.

Azam said that to ensure the effectiveness of the implementation of NACS, a comprehensive monitoring mechanism will be established by the MACC's National Governance Planning Division, where monitoring and evaluation reports on NACS will be presented at National Governance Special Cabinet Committee meetings chaired by the Prime Minister for validation before being submitted to the Cabinet and Parliament.

He said the MACC, through the division, is fully prepared to assume responsibility for coordinating various programmes under the strategies contained in NACS.

Azam expressed high hopes that all parties would cooperate to ensure the successful implementation of NACS for the next five years, in line with the national aspiration to build Malaysia Madani. - Bernama