Pakistan, China working jointly for transparency in CPEC: NAB chief

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau Chairman Justice (R) Javed Iqbal has said the NAB is the focal organisation of Pakistan under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) as Pakistan is its signatory.

“Pakistan is the only country in the world to which China has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for eradication of corruption. Pakistan and China are now jointly working for ensuring transparency in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects,” the NAB chairman said in a statement on Sunday.

Justice (R) Javed Iqbal said the World Economic Forum report, Transparency International Pakistan, Pildat and Mishal Pakistan has lauded NAB’s efforts to make people aware about the ill effects of corruption for corruption-free Pakistan.

“According to a survey of Gillani and Gallop Pakistan, 59 percent people of Pakistan showed confidence in the NAB,” he said.

Justice (R) Javed Iqbal said the NAB is the chairman of Saarc Anti Corruption Forum. “This was a reorganisation of NAB’s excellent work as NAB is considered as a role model among SAARC countries,” he said.

He said that he signed an MoU with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to create awareness among students of universities/colleges about the ill-effects of corruption at an early age as youth is the future of Pakistan.

In this regard, he said, Character Building Societies (CBS) have been established in universities/colleges throughout the country.

The NAB chairman said the NAB’s faith is corruption-free Pakistan and has chalked out anti-corruption strategy of awareness, prevention and enforcement. He said that the NAB’s major focus is logical conclusion of mega corruption cases. Since the NAB’s inception, one of NAB’s major achievements has been the recovery of around Rs466.069 billion which is a great achievement as per the annual report of 2019 of NAB.

He said that the overall complaints in 2019 were 53,643 and 42,760 were processed, whereas complaints in 2018 were 48,591 and 41,414 were processed.