Facing the trend of internationalization and globalization, Agency Against Corruption (AAC) has been actively promoting international affairs since its establishment, hoping to make the world know about Taiwan from the perspective of integrity by spreading and sharing various anti-corruption actions of our country. At the same time, we hope to grasp the international situation and learn relevant knowledge on integrity, in order to accumulate anti-corruption energy, enhance our country’s image, and achieve the vision of “Clean and Competent Government, Transparent Taiwan, and Aligning with International Standards”.

Publish National Report and Hold International Review

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is an international legal framework with a broad perspective which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2003. Its purpose is to guide and provide governments with anti-corruption laws and policies. Its content includes corruption prevention measures, criminalization and enforcement, international cooperation, recovery of illicit assets, technical assistance and information exchange, etc., to enable countries around the world to work together on anti-corruption issues.

As a member of the global village, Taiwan cannot be excluded from the international community. In order to actively abide by international norms and conduct a comprehensive review on the current implementation status of the Convention, the Ministry of Justice released the Initial UNCAC National Report in 2018, explaining the concrete results of implementing the requirements of UNCAC in our country, inviting a committee of international anti-corruption experts to come to Taiwan to hold an international review. International experts put forward 47 concluding observations named “Anti-corruption Reforms in Taiwan”. In addition to affirming the excellent performance of our country’s anti-corruption efforts, they also gave a number of valuable suggestions, which serve as important reference for our country to improve anti-corruption laws, norms and relevant measures. It is a major milestone in the development of integrity in Taiwan. In order to continue to implement the UNCAC self-inspection mechanism, Taiwan is expected to publish its second national report this year and conduct an international review, hoping to share feedback and maintain connection with the world through exhibiting the continuous review and practice of anti-corruption reforms over the past four years.

Participate in International Conferences to Enhance Integrity Image

AAC actively participates in the conferences and training courses organized by Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) Anti-Corruption and Transparency Experts Working Group (ACTWG), Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law Enforcements Agencies (ACT-NET), Transparency International (TI), the Asia-Pacific Anti-Corruption Initiative (ACI) and other international integrity organizations, exchanging the progress and achievements of our country’s implementation of UNCAC, so as to enhance Taiwan's visibility on the international stage. Moreover, in 2017 AAC successfully obtained funding from APEC and jointly held the “APEC Workshop on Enhancing Whistleblower Protection in Corruption Cases” with Papua New Guinea, establishing consensus on regional cooperation to protect whistleblowers and demonstrating the ability to lead the international integrity trend.

In addition, AAC participated in the virtual “2021 US-Taiwan Consultations on Democratic Governance in the Indo-Pacific Region” and briefed on “Taiwan’s Public-Private Cooperation on Anti-Corruption: The Current Status “, sharing the background, specific actions and achievements of promoting anti-corruption in the private sector, including the process of promoting the incorporation of UNCAC into domestic law, publishing the initial national report, holding the international review meeting, as well as how Ministry of Justice coordinates and promotes of the implementation of international experts’ recommendations by various competent authorities, so as to showcase the fruition of integrity governance in our country.

Signing Cooperation Agreement to

Promote International Exchange

In order to strengthen the exchange and cooperation between our country and other anti-corruption organizations around the world, In 2019 Taiwan signed the “Integrity Cooperation Agreement” with our diplomatic ally Belize. This agreement was the first one ever signed with our ally, indicating the huge progress on international integrity cooperation. Based on the framework of this agreement, both countries would collaborate in fields such as “exchange and visit”, “professional skills” and “law enforcement intelligence sharing” to develop substantial partnership and create foundation for future collaboration.

In Line With International Compliance Trends

Strengthen Communication with Foreign Business Associations

Since 2020, international travel has been restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, AAC has not stopped connecting with the international society. We have organized many Foreign Business and Enterprise Integrity Forums, inviting DHL, DBS Bank, Micron Technology, Siemens and other benchmark foreign businesses to share their good practices in promoting corporate integrity and compliance, helping local enterprises to develop foresight for international compliance; VIPs such as the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, the European Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Office of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority were also invited to participate in the grand event.

Achievement in International Evaluations and Looking Forward

In recent years, our country has repeatedly achieved good results in various international integrity evaluations, such as the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which is an annual survey conducted by Transparency International on experts and business managers to understand the corruption situation in the public sector in various countries. Taiwan’s CPI performance has improved year by year, ranking 25th in the world in 2021, which is the best result ever. In addition, TRACE, a non-profit organization dedicated to global commercial anti-bribery, transparency and good governance, announced the “2021 TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix”, Taiwan ranks 15th among the evaluated 194 countries or regions in the world, 1st in Asia, surpassing Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong. The aforementioned achievements show that our efforts have been recognized by the international community.

Corruption knows no boundaries. AAC will continue to engage in anti-corruption work, and actively cooperate with other international anti-corruption partners to demonstrate to the world the anti-corruption philosophy and determination of our country. Through “Integrity”, we hope to see deeper and wider in the international society, also look forward to making the world see Taiwan at its best.