UK shares anti-bribery and transparency experiences in the infrastructure sector with Guatemala
John McKendrick shared best practices with government authorities, businesses and civil society from Guatemala on how to improve investment in the infrastructure sector.
Anti-bribery and transparency conference
John is a British private lawyer that specialises in transparency issues and regularly acts for Her Majesty’s Government before the UK courts. John presented a case study of the UK Bribery Act to provide attendees with practical examples of how to enforce transparency rules across different sectors, include infrastructure.
The attendees discussed crucial measures, including developing national bribery strategies, fostering domestic and regional coordination to enforce anti-corruption laws, and develop mechanisms that strive for trustworthy bidding processes in large-scale projects.
The UK recognises that corruption harms societies, undermines economic development and threatens democracy. In Guatemala, we want to make sure that that any future activity to tackle corruption is joined up and collaborative across government, civil society organisations, law enforcement and other partners, including international efforts. To mark the event, Carolyn Davidson, British Ambassador to Guatemala, said:
The UK has a strong track record of tackling corruption, with the level of corruption in the UK far lower than the majority of other countries around the world. We want to share our experiences with Guatemala to set out clearly the actions that government will take to tackle corruption locally, and to set out our priorities for raising international standards and joining the global fight against corruption in all its forms. This will translate into more investments and prosperity for the Guatemalan people.