In order to meet the United Nations Convention against Corruption’s anti-corruption requirements for private sectors, implement the National Integrity Building Action Plan, improve corporate integrity, achieve an anti-corruption consensus in the private sector, and encourage more departments from both the public and private sectors to establish anti-corruption partnerships and improve governance mechanisms, thereby improving Taiwan’s overall competitiveness, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Economic Affairs held the 2021 Corporate Governance and Business Ethics Conference at KuoKuang Conference Room, owned by CPC Corporation, Taiwan, in the afternoon of December 1^st, 2021. A total of 200 people were invited to participate in the event, including the chairmen and CEOs of companies supervised by Ministry of Economic Affairs; representatives from foundations, companies directly or indirectly invested by foundations, listed companies, over-the-counter companies, and foreign companies; winners of CSR-related awards; representatives from the industry, government, and academia sectors; and other researchers to exchange insights on the topics of management transparency and integrity, sustainable operation, corporate governance, and CSR.

Minister Ching-Hsiang Tsai of Ministry of Justice and Deputy Minister Chern-Chyi Chen of Ministry of Economic Affairs delivered speeches at the Conference, while Chairman Stan Shih (founder of Acer Group) of StanShih Foundation was specially invited to give a presentation titled “Viewing ESG from the Perspective of Best Practices in Leadership” to elaborate on how business ethics could aid the sustainable development of enterprises. In addition, Director-General Ming-Chian Cheng of Agency Against Corruption, Chairman Wei-Fuu Yang of Taiwan Power Company, Vice President Rurng-Terng Tsai of Delta Power Solutions, Chief Auditor Iris Su of Far EasTone Telecom, Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, Deputy Director General Betty Hu of Ministry of Economic Affairs, Spokesperson Ray-Chung Chang of CPC Corporation, Taiwan, Vice President Jeff Kuo of Gogoro, and Associate Director David Chen of NASDAQ respectively shared experiences on “ESG Paradigms and Ethical Management” and “Innovation, Integrity, and Internationalization” in the form of round-table discussions.

Minister Tsai of Ministry of Justice indicated that Taiwan was given a score of 65 in the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International—ranking 28^th globally and 7^th in the Asia-Pacific area, scoring better than 84% of all evaluated countries, and continuing the trend of a new best score since the new evaluation standard was adopted in 2012. Taiwan also delivered great outcomes in the recently published 2020 Government Defence Integrity Index and the 2021 Bribery Risk Matrix, demonstrating that the government’s anti-corruption measures were effectively put into practice. In addition to the public sector, the United Nations Convention against Corruption also has requirements in place for the private sector, stipulating that the private sector adopt integrity standards, avoid conflict of interest, and improve transparency levels. Therefore, to meet international requirements and the requirements of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, Ministry of Justice has extended anti-corruption measures from the public sector to the private sector so as to continue to improve Taiwan’s global competitiveness ranking.

During the round-table discussion, Director-General Cheng of Agency Against Corruption indicated that in recent years the Agency has worked with various ethics units to hold business ethics forums, establishing partnerships between the public and the private sectors and promoting business ethics. One example of how the two sectors worked together is the Procurement Integrity Platform, which has received much recognition for its focuses in the areas of cross-disciplinary collaboration, collaboration between the public and the private sectors, administration transparency, and public supervision.

Business ethics in the private sector is an important driving force of economic development and a key element to improving the competitiveness of industries in Taiwan. Through presentations, round-table discussions, and collaborations and discussion between the government and enterprises, this Conference allowed participants from the industry, government, and academia sectors and other researchers to understand ESG-related endeavor and achievements, helping enterprises to strengthen corporate governance, implement ethical management, and fulfill CSR responsibilities. In the future, Agency Against Corruption will continue to help enterprises to build integrity governance networks and facilitate the communication between the public and the private sectors, creating a win-win situation and building a strong foundation for national development while at the same time taking healthy economic and social development into consideration.