Indo-Pacific nations agree to fight corruption, climate change

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - A total of 14 Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) partner nations agreed Thursday to fight corruption and climate change.

"The IPEF partners would work together to enhance their efforts to prevent and combat corruption including bribery, and support efforts to improve tax transparency and the exchange of information, domestic resource mobilization, and tax administration," the US Commerce Department said in a statement.

The partners' efforts will also include effectively enforcing measures that concern domestic and foreign bribery and money laundering, and will ensure appropriate accounting and auditing standards, it added.

They will also promote the active participation of the private sector to prevent and combat corruption including bribery, and encourage the private sector to implement internal controls, ethics, and compliance programs that contribute to preventing and detecting corruption, including bribery.

The IPEF partners, in addition, said they are committed to actively pursuing shared climate objectives and respective pathways to net-zero emission economies to progress climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The nations said they intend to "accelerate the research, development, commercialization, availability, accessibility, affordability, and deployment of a diverse set of clean energy and climate friendly technologies."

They also aim to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy conservation, including supporting the region’s development of high-quality, reliable, and economically viable electric grids.

The 14 IPEF partners include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US and Vietnam.