OPENING REMARKS AT THE SEVENTH REGIONAL SEMINAR ON
GOOD GOVERNANCE FOR SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIESTomoko Akane*Honourable Datuk Hj. Mustafar bin Hj. Ali, Director of Investigation of the MalaysianAnti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Honourable Dato Abdul Wahab Abdul Aziz, Directorof the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy, honourable guests, distinguished experts andparticipants, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to announce the opening of the Seventh
Regional Seminar on Good Governance for Southeast Asian Countries. I would like to extend
my heartfelt welcome to the honourable guests, distinguished speakers and participants who
have come to join this significant forum.
UNAFEI has held the Good Governance Seminar annually since 2007. This year is theseventh Good Governance Seminar, held in Kuala Lumpur, and it is being co-hosted by theMalaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. I would like to take this opportunity to express mydeepest appreciation to the Government of Malaysia, especially to the MalaysianAnti-Corruption Commission and Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy, for their great
contributions and assistance in co-hosting this seminar.
The main theme of this seminar is “Enhancing Investigative Ability in Corruption
Cases”. Needless to say, just criminalizing various forms of corruption is meaningless. For us,
as law enforcement officers and government attorneys, the most effective measure toeradicate corruption is exposing each case of corruption, exposing each wrongdoer, andbringing such criminals to justice. That includes imposing the appropriate punishment oneach offender.
However, many challenges arise in investigating and prosecuting corruption cases, suchas undue pressure from powerful politicians and public officials, difficulties obtaining
objective evidence and so forth. We must regrettably admit that corruption cases are stillprevalent, and we have not succeeded in investigating and prosecuting all corruption cases.
High investigative ability and techniques are necessary to overcome those challenges.
Now, let’s recall the date of 31 October 2003, when the United Nations General
Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Since then, 10 years
have passed. I quote the words that Secretary-General Kofi Annan㸪the then UN Secretary
General, jubilantly wrote in the foreword, “The new Convention is a remarkable achievement,
and it complements another landmark instrument, the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime, which entered into force just a month ago. It is balanced,
strong and pragmatic, and it offers a new framework for effective action and internationalcooperation.” Indeed, UNCAC has inspired strong political will to fight against corruption in
many countries.
*Director, United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment ofOffenders (UNAFEI).

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During these ten years, such countries have made tremendous efforts to strengthen theirlegal and regulatory regimes and to make use of various and powerful measures introduced
by UNCAC and UNTOC. I believe that we are steadily moving forward to defeat the vice ofcorruption by “Enhancing Investigative Ability in Corruption Cases”.
This forum is a good opportunity for us to exchange knowledge and good practices ininvestigating corruption cases based on the experience of your respective countries. Of course,
there are still differences in legal regimes and rules, but the lessons learned through theinvestigation of specific cases should lead us beyond such differences to improve theinvestigative methods of each country.
Finally, I hope that the discussion at this seminar will strengthen international
cooperation and help each participant clear higher hurdles in the investigation of corruption
cases in the future.
Thank you very much for your attention.

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