US to continue supporting ACC’s capacity development

The United States (US) will continue its support to Bangladesh in enhancing the institutional capacity of the anti-graft authority, in order to make a better impact in corruption prevention, said US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter D Haas.

He said this during a courtesy call on Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah at the ACC headquarters in the city's Segunbagicha on Wednesday.

Mr Hass led a three-member team during the visit that included US embassy's Political and Economic Counsellor Scott Brandon and Resident Legal Advisor Sarah Edwards.

At the meeting, the US ambassador invited the commission to join the 20th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) scheduled to be held on 6-10 December 2022 in the US.

The IACC, hosted by the US government and organised by IACC Council and Transparency International (TI), is the largest forum voicing against corruption by bringing together anti-graft organisations and activists from all over the world.

Mr Haas also assured that his government would continue supporting ACC's "follow the money, money laundering" programme.

ACC chairman thanked the US government for arranging anti-graft related training programmes for ACC officials since 2016.

He also hoped that the US would continue its support in improving the skills of the workforce of the newly formed 'digital forensic lab' at the commission.

Following the meeting, ACC Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain said the discussion with the US envoy focused on how to make ACC's activities more dynamic and impactful.

The US has expressed its interest in providing technical support to the digital forensic lab installed by the commission recently, he added.

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