Heads of delegation of States parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption,

Dr. Ghada Wali,  Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,

Officers of the ninth session,

Ladies and gentlemen.

At the outset, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Hassan Abdel Shafi Ahmed, Chairman of the Administrative Control Authority, on his election as President of the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

I also extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to H.E. Mr. Harib Al Amimi, President of State Audit Institution of the United Arab Emirates for his presidency of the eighth session of the Conference.

Allow me to convey the Egyptian leadership and people's welcome for the holding of the Conference on its soil and for the honor of this group of senior officials and international experts who were keen to attend and enrich the activities of the Conference. They hope to achieve positive results that live up to the aspirations of our people to continue to develop and support the work of preventing and combating corruption.

Esteemed attendees,

Since Egypt joined the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in 2005, it has taken a consistent approach based on the continued development of its efforts and support for international action in keeping with the Convention. This was confirmed by the reports of the first and second review sessions, where several measures were implemented, including:

In the area of anti-corruption legislation, the Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt was promulgated in 2014,  containing the State's commitment to combating corruption and affirming the technical, financial and administrative independence of the regulatory bodies. In the same year, the Anti-Money-Laundering Law was amended and all concerned parties were obliged to report suspected cases of money-laundering offenses.

In 2017, the law regulating the Administrative Control Authority law was amended to add fight against organized crime, money-laundering, illicit gain, and public exploitation to the Authority’s contents. The law also included the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Academy as the first specialized training academy at the continental and regional levels with the aim of raising awareness, building capacity, promoting international cooperation, and exchanging experiences on ways to prevent and combat corruption.

The Penal Code had been amended in 2018 and the criminalization of bribery of foreign public officials and officials of public international institutions had been added to the resolutions of the fifth session of the Congress of Panama in 2013.

The Public Contracts Law was also enacted in 2018 in order to align with international standards and article 9 of the UNCAC. In the same context, Egypt is implementing an ambitious digital transformation project through the automation and the linking of the work of all government agencies electronically to improve public services, as well as the adoption of an electronic system of criminal and civil litigation procedures.

In line with article no. 5 of the Convention, the National Anti-Corruption Strategy was launched in its first two phases in 2014-2018 and 2019-2022 respectively, with the participation of the private sector and civil society organizations, which were along the same lines of the Marrakesh Declaration in Morocco.

The results of the follow-up to the second phase resulted in the achievement of about 85% of the target for completion despite the intricate situation that the whole world is going through as a result of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Egypt has been keen to publish the follow-up results report in accordance with the principle of transparency.

Distinguished attendees,

The political declaration adopted at the Special Session of the General Assembly on International Drug Control in June 2012 is an internationally acclaimed document to prevent and combat corruption. Hence, Egypt has adopted a procedural draft resolution to follow up its implementation and we call upon States to agree to it.

Mr. President,

The pandemic and the socio-economic problems that it has entailed have demonstrated the need for international cooperation to strengthen the measures necessary to prevent and combat corruption in times of crisis and disaster and to ensure apt recovery. Hence, the Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration submitted by Egypt serves as a starting point for joint international action. I call upon all States parties to adopt this important declaration, which in essence affirms our partnerships and international cooperation.

Finally, I would like to thank the Secretariat to the UNODC Governing Bodies for their technical support and effective coordination in Egypt's hosting of the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties in Sharm el-Sheikh. Egypt expresses its great confidence in you and the Bureau of the Conference to lead the work system during the ninth session to promote the implementation of the objectives of the UNCAC and to promote regional and international cooperation to prevent and combat corruption

Peace be upon you.