Remarks of Enrique Iglesias at the opening of the Anti Corruption Summit 2000 on Thursday, September 21,2000

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen:

Due to previous commitments, it is not possible for me to be there in person today, but I want to send my best wishes to the Anti  Corruption Summit 2000 and to each of you who are attending this meeting which is of extreme urgency and importance.

My sincere thanks to the International Consortium of Governmental Financial Management for giving me the opportunity to say a few words to you at the beginning of this conference. My congratulations to the three Auditors  General who are chairing the conference and who have put together an outstanding program.

This subject of your conference is of particular importance to the Inter-American Development Bank, as we are finalizing this week a revised Bank policy on strengthening our systematic framework against corruption for all Bank activities. The revised policy will itemize the necessary measures that will enable the Bank to strengthen and further integrate its current actions against corruption. The proposed guidelines build on an existing body of policies and regulations that accounts for the Bank's strong record in this field for more than 40 years while also reflecting the Bank's needs to address its member countries rising concern with the limitations to development caused by corruption.

The Bank's member countries share a deep concern regarding the negative impact of corruption on development and on the risk that it poses to the Bank' s allocation of resources and to its corporate culture. It is therefore timely and appropriate for the Bank to articulate a comprehensive and systemic approach to combat corruption on all of these fronts, taking into account the needs of the Latin American and Caribbean region.

A simultaneous systemic effort will be undertaken to (a) ensure that Bank staff act in accordance with the highest level of integrity and that the institution's internal policies and procedures are committed to this goal; (b) minimize the risk of corruption in the allocation commitment and disbursement of the Bank's resources in its lending program and ensure that Bank operations are designed so as to be executed with transparency and within the framework of a proper control environment; and (c) support the borrowing member countries in their programs to improve governance, affirm the rule of law and combat corruption.

I look forward to hearing the results of your in depth discussions concerning these very important subjects.