Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 17-18 February 2020, Vienna hosted the first preparatory meeting of the 28th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum on “Promoting Security, Stability and Economic Growth in the OSCE Region by Preventing Corruption and Fighting with her through innovation, increased transparency and digitalization”.

The main goal of the event is to stimulate political dialogue and develop recommendations for OSCE participants on resolving economic and environmental problems.

The preparatory meeting, chaired by Uzbekistan, discussed pressing issues of interagency cooperation in the field of preventing and combating corruption, developing new anti-corruption strategies in the digital age, improving budget transparency and public procurement, improving environmental governance based on transparency and innovation.

The event was attended by OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, Chairman of the OSCE Permanent Council Igli Hasani, representatives of 57 OSCE participating States and 11 partner countries, as well as other international organizations. The Uzbek delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Prosecutor's Office and the State Committee on Statistics.

The Chairperson of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Committee, Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the OSCE, Ambassador Sherzod Asadov, in the framework of the main session, spoke about the key reforms and effective measures taken in recent years to combat and prevent corruption in Uzbekistan. In particular, it indicated the adoption in 2017 of the Law on Combating Corruption, which created the legal basis for activities in this area and the mechanisms for implementing anti-corruption measures. It was emphasized that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his Message to the Oliy Majlis emphasized the need to create a new anti-corruption body and emphasized the importance of moving from eliminating the consequences of corruption to its early warning.

The forum participants were also acquainted with the efforts of Uzbekistan in the field of digitalization of the economy and the conservation of biological diversity, measures taken to curb illegal actions in this direction.

In addition, attention was focused on the importance of further strengthening the economic and environmental dimension of security in the work of the OSCE and establishing fruitful cooperation between Uzbekistan and the OSCE in enhancing the potential of our country in the fight against corruption.