ISLAMABAD: The Minister for Law and Justice, Zahid Hamid, on Monday said that forming ‘Anti-Corruption Forum’ of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was need of the hour to help promote coordinated efforts against the menace of corruption. He said this while addressing an inaugural session of a two-day seminar of SAARC nations on anti-corruption. “Since issues and concerns of these nations are common, coordinated efforts against corruption at regional level from SAARC’s platform are imperative”, he said. The minister said corruption could no longer be considered as internal problem of the country adding that the member states required working jointly by sharing best practices, expertise and experiences related to global fight against corruption. The government of Pakistan and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had initiated the process for regional cooperation in anti-corruption matters by arranging the seminar, he said. The NAB has the expertise, manpower and institutional mechanism to deal with corruption in a holistic manner, he added. Pakistan was ready to extend its full support to build and enhance capacity of anti-corruption authorities of the SAARC countries for effectively combating the menace, the minister said. He further said that all national and provincial anti-corruption institutions were fully engaged in implementing the government’s policy of zero tolerance against corruption and would root out this menace from the society. Hamid further said legal mechanisms were in place to take punitive action against those found involved in this heinous offence adding that NAB, being the apex anti-corruption body, had been mandated with the responsibility of elimination of corruption through a holistic three-pronged approach of awareness, prevention and enforcement. While sharing working of the NAB, he said that it formulated the national anti-corruption strategy, engaging all stakeholders in fight against corruption by tackling systemic weaknesses and promoting good governance. The NAB, which is Pakistan’s designated central authority under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) regime, enjoyed partnership with a number of international forums, he added. “Its nonstop anti-corruption efforts had been acknowledged by international corruption watch organisation. The marked improvement in Pakistan’s ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) during last three years is proof of the success of its efforts,” he said. The minister reiterated commitment of Pakistan to economic and social uplift of the people of South Asian region. NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, in his welcome address, said Pakistan was ready to engage at regional level in its efforts in combating corruption. He expressed confidence that the two-day seminar would initiate a process in consolidating joint efforts to root out corruption from the region. “Sharing experiences, expertise and tools with the SAARC member state will supplement the overall agenda of betterment of people of this region,” he added. During the two-day deliberations, the NAB chairman said Pakistan would propose creation of a “SAARC Anti-Corruption Forum” aimed at providing an institutional framework for taking these efforts further. He said that this seminar was an effort to formulate a collective regional response against corruption on SAARC platform adding that the presence of heads and delegates of anti-corruption agencies from SAARC member states in seminar has endorsed the commitment of these countries to work jointly towards ultimate goal of corruption-free South Asia. The seminar would be able to prepare an outcome that would add to existing anti-corruption efforts at regional level, he said. “This will indeed complement the agenda of upcoming 19th SAARC Summit to be held on November 9-10 this year in Islamabad”, he informed. The NAB chairman said the SAARC countries needed to synergise their individual efforts against corruption to achieve goal of a corruption-free South Asia and change it into a region of development and prosperity.