Saudi Arabia making all-out efforts to fight graft

Nazaha main office in Riyadh.

RIYADH: Protecting integrity and fighting corruption in privatization programs is the subject of the third International Nazaha Conference to be launched on Wednesday under the patronage of King Salman.
Organized by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha), the conference will take place at a local hotel.
Dr. Khaled bin Abdulmohsen Al-Muhaisen, president of Nazaha, has thanked King Salman for sponsoring the conference, which he said is part of Saudi Arabia’s continuous efforts to fight corruption at the local and international levels in line with its Vision 2030. The Kingdom is keen to involve the international community in enhancing these efforts and to benefit from the experiences of other countries and international organizations, he said.
Dr. Bandar bin Ahmed Abalkhail and Abdulmohsen bin Mohammed Al-Monaif, vice presidents of the commission, said Nazaha has endless support from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Abalkhail said the Kingdom had started implementing many programs including privatization, and the commission is working on achieving its objectives in this field to benefit from global experiences and practices through the organization of conferences on transparency, integrity and anti-corruption.
The conference aims to raise awareness of the importance of fighting corruption, discussing the risks of corruption and appropriate preventive measures, and discussing the impact of privatization programs in reducing corruption practices.
The conference will host 36 experts from within and outside the Kingdom and will include six sessions and three workshops.
Dr. Khalid bin Saleh Al-Sultan, Rector of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, will be the first keynote speaker, and the second will be Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Madhy, president of the General Establishment of Military Industries.
The first session will be entitled “Protecting Integrity in Privatization Programs” and will cover the following topics: Corruption risk assessment, ways to strengthen preventive measures, the role of competent entities in following up the privatization process, the efficiency of laws, policies and procedures, and the role of civil society institutions and the media.
Keynote speaker of day two will be Dr. Christopher MacKee, chief executive at The PRS Group.
Nazaha will hold three workshops specializing in fighting corruption.
Nazaha invites those interested to attend and register for the conference through conf3.nazaha.gov.sa