Laos joined countries around the world on Friday to condemn corruption, to mark the International Day against Corruption.

The official ceremony was held at the International Cooperation and Training Centre in Vientiane , Deputy Prime Minister; Mr Asang Laoly, along with high-ranking Lao and UN officials attended.

Mr Asang, who is also President of the State Inspection Organisation, addressed the gathering of 500 officials, explaining the situation and the dangers posed by government corruption in the world as well as in Laos .

He said corruption was a negative phenomenon which was seen in the governments of every country around the world, causing damage and losses. Each year, 20-25 percent of state investment was lost to corruption throughout the world, he added.

In Laos , Mr Asang said corruption caused delay in the development of the nation, and compromised the sustainable growth of the state. Corruption also caused people to lose their trust and confidence in the government, he added.

Because of these dangers, the government considers corruption as one of the main problems to be resolved, and has recently introduced an anti-corruption law. In article 25 of this law, 12 regulations ban officials from exploiting their positions and power inappropriately.

Mr Asang said that over the past few years, the State Inspection Organisation launched inspections among the state agencies and found that the agencies were improving themselves to make their organisational structure and operations more transparent, making it easier for officials to carry out inspections.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Representative to Laos , Mr Leik Boonwaat, corruption was one of the main obstacles to stability, sustainable development and poverty eradication, democracy and human rights around the globe. No country is immune to its effects.

He said corruption, defined as the abuse of power for private gain, diverts health, education and infrastructure resources away from those who need it most.

Everyone has a role to play in stopping corruption, including government, the private sector and civil society, he said.

Vice President of the State Inspection Organisation, Mr Thongsy Ouanlasy, said on Friday that the government would be increasing its efforts to combat corruption, and had laid down strategies to crack down on corrupt behaviour among officials.

He said the government would continue to improve its authorities at all levels, making state administrations more transparent as part of the efforts to reduce opportunities for officials to exploit the system.

In addition, clear working regulations would be set up for the state officials to follow so as to make inspection easier, he added, and anti-corruption strategies will allow more people to join with the government to inspect corruption.

He said many regulations, which were out of date, would be removed to encourage more people to use state services.

The government was also planning to pass more laws to reduce corruption and swiftly punish those responsible for corrupt behaviour, as well as to advocate knowledge of laws among the media, students and the general population.

By Ekaphone Phouthonesy
(Latest Update December 11 , 2006)