OGP Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting

The Asia-Pacific region is full of potential to continue to develop their human and economic capital. However, recent scandals of illicit enrichment of public officials and the use of enablers of corruption such as money laundering have mired this potential and weakens public trust. The OGP provides an opportunity to commit to ambitious anti-corruption commitments in a participatory manner. There are positive trends in the region which seek to increase beneficial ownership transparency, asset and interest declarations for public officials, and integrity in political financing. Successfully tackling these issues will contribute to create a conducive ecosystem that promotes integrity in the public sector and to increase public trust in government institutions. This session will discuss the opportunities and lessons from OGP participants of advancing beneficial ownership transparency, asset and interest declarations, integrity in political financing and other anti-corruption policies that can have a great impact in preventing corruption and restoring public trust.

Objectives:
1. Exchange country experiences in advancing beneficial ownership transparency, asset and interest declarations, and transparency in lobbying/political financing.
2. Debate and learn on the different approaches and challenges within OGP to tackling these issues.
3. Discuss how to secure meaningful commitments and implementation within these issues.

The format proposed is a series of moderated conversations between government officials and civil society representatives. Audience members will actively participate by asking questions via Sli.do, which will be incorporated into the discussions by the moderator. The session will stimulate and look towards the attendants to show their commitment to lead on Anti-corruption for public trust. The conversations will focus on recent events in the topic area, country commitments, and how civil society and government can work together to advance anti-corruption reforms, the field of BOT, asset and interest declaration and lobbying/political financing.

Outcome:
1. Increased number of countries in the region to commit to implement ambitious commitments in on BOT, asset and interest declaration and lobbying/political financing.
2. Increased knowledge of participants of the options and type of commitments possible in the field of BOT, asset and interest declaration and lobbying/political financing.