For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 10, 2004
G8/Georgia Partnership
Compact to Promote Transparency and Combat Corruption: A New Partnership Between the G8 and Georgia
Georgia and the members of the G8 announce today their intention to
cooperate in a "Compact to Promote Transparency and Combat Corruption."
Georgia and the G8 share the view that corruption is a threat to
democratic institutions, economic development and to the integrity of
the international system of trade and investment. Georgia and the
members of the G8 recognize that promoting transparency and integrity
and fighting corruption require commitment and action on all sides.
Outlined below are the intentions and policy commitments of the G8 and
Georgia as they pursue cooperation through the Compact in a spirit of
partnership and mutual respect.
Statement of the Government of Georgia
The new government of Georgia realizes that success depends on the
ability to develop and implement reforms that will ensure a better
future for all our citizens. First and foremost among our priorities is
improving governance. Better governance is not just a campaign
slogan: it is a national mission. Only a more transparent and
accountable government will fulfill the promise of our Rose
Revolution: Our citizens have granted us a mandate with an
unprecedented level of popular support. We are using our unique
historical opportunity to transform Georgia into a stable and
prosperous democracy, based on tolerance, transparency and respect for
rule of law.
Improved governance and the rule of law require comprehensive
action against corruption. The decay of corruption eroded the fabric
of our nation for too long. Our highest priority is promoting
transparency, accountability, and integrity. Detailed below are a few
of our accomplishments to date and some of our future plans to realize
this set of objectives.
Actions to fight corruption and promote
accountability
Just weeks after the Revolution, we put an end to the notorious
impunity of former senior officials by conducting unprecedented arrests
of former ministers including the Minister of Energy, the Minister of
Transportation, the Head of Georgian Customs, the Head of Georgian
Railways, the Deputy Head of the Tax Administration and regional
government officials.
Complementing these actions, we also acted against entrenched
criminal clans that controlled the smuggling of contraband, often with
the active support of government officials. In the new Georgia,
accountability means enforcement of laws even if the violators are rich
and powerful. Through our resolute actions, we have demonstrated that
no one is above the law any longer in Georgia.
In pursuit of long-term structural reforms that eliminate
institutional sources of corruption, we reduced the size of government
and the number of officials on our payroll, with a specific focus on
Georgia's previously untouched "power ministries" (i.e. Interior, State
Security, Defense). Recognizing that downsizing is not enough, we are
increasing the salaries of civil servants on the front lines: tax
police, criminal investigators, judges, customs officers, and others.
Addressing the rampant harassment and corruption housed at the
Ministry of Interior and Ministry of State Security, we ended their
so-called "financial oversight" functions by eliminating their
jurisdiction. As a result, financial police functions are now
exclusively within the Ministry of Finance where transparency and
accountability have been increased. To complement these measures and
underline the change in culture and outlook, civilian ministers are now
for the first time in charge of Interior and State Security where they
are pursuing comprehensive reform agendas.
On the legislative front, we moved swiftly to pass anti-corruption
legislation that streamlines indictment and prosecution procedures,
enables the use of plea-bargaining, and allows the confiscation of
assets gained through criminal activity. We also are working on new
legislation that will empower our law enforcement authorities to bring
organized criminals and racketeers to justice, modeled after the U.S.
RICO statute (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act).
These steps were taken in full consultation with civil society, a
natural process since the new Minister of Justice worked for a
non-governmental organization before assuming his current position.
Future plans
We are proud of our accomplishments but we realize they are only a
beginning. Increasing transparency and fighting corruption is a
never-ending process. We have set four main priorities in accordance
with our unique situation and our national goals.
No government can succeed if it does not control national
finances. In recognition of this fact, we increased our revenue
collection and paid pensions on time for the first time in many years.
Now, we are improving our budget processes and need to increase our
capability to gather and assess financial data. We also will share our
financial data with the public and with elected representatives in
Parliament. Specifically, in order to enhance access to budget data in
real time, we recently launched a daily electronic journal that makes
available data on both revenue collection and distribution. In the
near future, we also plan to strengthen our web-based data and budget
figures so that revenue collection and government spending processes,
goals and results will be made public. We also will develop impartial
public audit capabilities to monitor public spending. We believe these
steps are essential for sound financial management and maintaining
public confidence.
Second, we are actively developing a national strategy to implement
an integrated e--government program. Under this initiative we plan to
make available all Presidential decrees and decisions, including laws
and relevant commentaries on economic, fiscal, tax and customs related
information. This effort will extend to individual ministries that
will be obligated to post information related to their activities,
internal procedures and overall priorities.
Phase two of our e-government initiative will focus on providing
web--based services such as permits, licenses and other administrative
functions. This effort will then be extended to e-procurement
opportunities -- a process that will ensure that public spending
decisions are based on publicly known and widely available criteria,
rather than on inside information and special treatment. We firmly
believe that transparency in procurement will increase investor
confidence and result in better performance. Our parliament also will
play a central role in ensuring procurement decisions are based on
objective performance rather than political preference.
Third, it should be remembered that many members of our government
served in the previous government and later resigned to protest
corruption and the lack of transparency. During our previous
government service, we saw first-hand the corrosive effect of
corruption on our society -- when government officials on fixed public
salaries acquired properties and businesses far beyond their means. To
put an end to these pernicious practices we are developing legislation
that will mandate the financial disclosure of assets and prohibit
conflicts of interest for government officials. In addition, we intend
to establish codes of conduct for government officials to promote the
creation of standards of excellence. No longer will Georgia be a place
where public office is used for private gain.
Finally, we are working with our democratically-elected Parliament
and our vocal civil society to ensure that checks and balances remain
vigorous so that executive power is not abused again in our country.
Indeed, the lack of transparency, accountability and integrity of
Georgia's highest leaders was one of the primary factors motivating
citizens during our peaceful "Rose Revolution." The legacy, legitimacy
and promise of our democratic revolution demand that we do nothing less
than institutionalize transparency, accountability and integrity.
Based on our results and commitments, we appreciate the offers of
support for our efforts on transparency by the international
community. In this regard, the Georgian government is committed to
undertaking cooperative efforts with our G-8 partners.
Statement of the G8 Governments
General Statement of Policy Commitments
For their part, G8 countries committed at Evian and Sea Island to
act together to fight corruption and increase transparency. At Sea
Island, the G8 agreed to pursue specific actions to follow up their
Evian commitments. As set forth in more detail in their Declarations
in Evian and Sea Island, the G8 intend to: - Become parties to
the UN Convention Against Corruption and call for rapid signature and
completion of all necessary steps to ratify and implement the
Convention, and support the convening in Vienna of a multilateral
"Friends of the Convention" process for promoting active and effective
implementation.
- Translate the words of the UN Convention into
effective actions and assist third countries, particularly developing
countries, in accomplishing the objectives of the Convention.
- Implement a new G8 partnership to detect, recover and return
illicitly acquired proceeds of corruption.
- Put in place new
methods to coordinate G8 asset recovery actions, including by:
- Establishing G8 accelerated response teams
- Enhancing G8
asset recovery case coordination; and
- Holding G8 asset
recovery workshops.
- Adopting rules and measures or creating
best practices to track and recover assets in corruption
cases.
- Seek in accordance with national laws to deny
safe haven to public officials guilty of corruption, by denying them
entry, when appropriate, and by using extradition and mutual legal
assistance laws and mechanisms more effectively.
- Work with the
international financial institutions (IFIs) and UN agencies to
encourage anti-corruption and transparency actions by developing
countries. The G8 intend to:
- Encourage countries to meet the
high disclosure and transparency standards set by the IFIs.
- Support World Bank and related programs to help developing
countries achieve accountability in public finance and expenditure and
procurement.
- Seek agreement to disclose country assistance
strategies, performance evaluations and reports on country budget
procedures from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and
regional development banks.
- Invite developing countries to
prepare anti-corruption action plans to implement their commitments in
regional and international conventions.
- Adhere
rigorously to an updated peer review schedule for the OECD Anti-Bribery
Convention and honor our pledges to serve as lead examiners to monitor
our enforcement of anti-bribery laws. Send prosecutors and other law
enforcement officials to participate in peer reviews.
- Encourage efforts of our private sectors to develop and implement
corporate compliance programs to promote adherence to laws that
criminalize the bribery of foreign public officials.
- Implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) revised 40
recommendations and promote implementation of the UN Transnational
Organized Crime Convention (TOC).
- Work towards including in
G8 regional and bilateral trade agreements provisions requiring
transparency in government procurement and the awarding of concessions,
as well as provisions on trade facilitation.
Proposed Actions to Launch a Georgia Transparency
Compact
A number of G8 countries are prepared to work to find ways to
support the efforts of Georgia to enhance transparency, use public
resources wisely and fight corruption. Participating G8 countries
intend to join in a voluntary and cooperative partnership with Georgia
to help improve transparency in the specific areas identified as
national priorities by the Government of Georgia. The future work plan
for the transparency compact is expected to focus on efforts to promote
transparency and prevent corruption in the following areas:
- Public budgets and financial management, including revenues and
expenditures;
- Government procurement; and
- Letting of
public concessions.
These are the key channels for public resource management and use.
Participating G8 countries intend to work in consultation with the
Government of Georgia to consider, within their budgetary
possibilities, country-specific technical assistance, political support
and policy guidance in areas where Georgia identifies a need for
capacity building to enhance transparency. G8 partners may help to
support efforts by the Georgian authorities to make information
available to the public, to develop appropriate rules and regulations
and to build support for pro-transparency reform among domestic
constituencies. Assistance from participating G8 partners may include
stepped-up coordination with the international financial institutions
to ensure that new assistance complements existing and future
transparency work with Georgia in those institutions.
Next Steps
Representatives of the Government of Georgia and of participating
G8 countries intend to meet soon to carry the compact forward to the
next operational stage. The partner countries intend to work together
to develop a technical plan of action. The technical plan would be
based upon Georgia's stated priorities to build on its current efforts
and actions in the realm of transparency and public financial
management and accountability.
Participating G8 countries and the Government of Georgia further
intend to adopt a procedure to measure and evaluate progress as the
pilot compact moves forward.
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