News Releases

Sep 21, 2006

OECD, Chile and IDB sponsor meeting on bribery investigations and prosecution

September 27-28 in Santiago, Chile

How governments can fight bribery and corruption more effectively will be the focus of a high-level regional conference in Santiago, Chile, on September 27-28, 2006, organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Chilean government, in cooperation with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The conference is open to the media.

The first day will focus on the detection, investigation and prosecution of bribery with a wide range of participants, including the minister of foreign affairs and the minister of justice of Chile. During the second day of the meeting, Latin American investigators and prosecutors will discuss regional corruption challenges and ways to improve international cooperation, among other issues.

Corruption harms people, economies and the environment. It thrives in countries where political accountability and market transparency are inadequate and the bureaucracy is burdensome. Countries need to work together to fight corruption. They also need to have in place effective laws and enforce them.

Under its strategy for modernization of the state, the IDB provides support to strengthen the rule of law and administration of justice, in particular the capacity of the judicial system in the fight against corruption. The IDB’s Office of Institutional Integrity is the central unit responsible for promoting institutional integrity both within the Bank and in working with its member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to help prevent corruption through education and training.

Three IDB experts will give a workshop on investigating and prosecuting corruption, based on case studies. The IDB, through regional technical cooperation, will also finance nine trainees from various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean who will present national cases at the meeting.

The OECD leads an anti-corruption program in Latin America designed to strengthen implementation and enforcement of the regional anti-corruption conventions and to promote integrity in the region. Recent efforts seek to ensure the effective enforcement of regional anti-corruption conventions.

The Santiago meeting is being organized by the OECD Anti-Corruption Division and the Chilean government, in cooperation with the IDB and with support from the Organization of American States and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

More information on this event, including background material, is available on the OECD website.

Also available in: Español