Minister Amr Adel, Chairman of the Administrative Control Authority, took part in the Arab Forum of Anti-Corruption Agencies and Financial Intelligence Units, held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on May 15-16, 2024. The event comes under the auspices of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the aim to enhance cooperation among authorities concerned with combating corruption, money laundering and terrorism financing in the Middle East and North Africa region.

In his speech on the cruciality of fighting corruption to achieve economic growth, Minister Amr Adel pointed to the correlation between fighting corruption and achieving economic growth for countries, as outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as means to secure a better future for all. Chairman of the ACA cited reports delineating that the cost of corruption and tax evasion amounts to about 8% of the gross world product (GWP), which could have been used to foster the economic growth of countries.

Minister Amr Adel referred to the directives of the H.E. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, President of Egypt, on bolstering Egypt’s adherence to the rule of law, rejecting all forms and practices of corruption, consolidating the values of integrity and transparency, and ensuring that everyone is equal before the law. Further, the speech underpinned Egypt's efforts in the field of preventing and combating corruption through information infrastructure projects, digital transformation and separating service providers and recipients. The Minister pointed to the Administrative Control Authority’s long-standing anti-corruption mission over the course of the past 60 years since its establishment in 1964, stressing ACA’s keenness to keep pace with the development of economic policies, communication systems, banking services, and novel anti-corruption frameworks. 

Finally, the speech unfolded the success factors of the anti-corruption systema, identifying the following: enhanced legislative structures, robust political will, effective institutions, rigorous planning exemplified by national anti-corruption strategies, corruption prevention, bolstered law enforcement that deploys technology, advanced AI- driven monitoring and suspicion mechanisms, and bilateral and multilateral international cooperation that addresses the complex and transnational nature of corruption. 

At the end of his speech, Minister Amr Adel thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for organizing the forum and hosting anti-corruption and financial investigation stakeholders to exchange visions, ideas and experiences in order to achieve the aspirations of curbing the scourge of corruption, safeguarding national resources, and promoting economic and social development.