Minister Fidelis participantes in High-Level International Ministerial Roundtable in the Netherlands on Combating Grand Corruption
Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, was invited by Dutch Foreign Minister to join the High-Level Ministerial Roundtable in The Hague to build a partnership to stand united in combatting grand corruption. This ministerial meeting is convened acknowledging countries’ leadership efforts in the promotion of good governance and the fight against corruption.
The High-Level conference in The Hague is organized by Canada, Ecuador and the Netherland, to evaluate the steps taken to build a Concept of Principles that emphasize the necessity to inject new energy and direction into our shared fight against corruption through: strengthening effective implementation of existing international instruments, reinforcing international cooperation and information sharing, examining the proposal for the establishment of an international Anti-Corruption court, creating new multilateral solutions to close criminal justice gaps, building stronger partnerships in multilateral anti corruption efforts, and strengthening the political will and capacity to respond nationally.
Timor-Leste emphasized the importance of engaging the countries of the global South and global north in a productive process that can better address the current challenges with the transnational nature of grand corruption, including strengthening the cooperation with partners bilaterally and regionally.
Timor-Leste will remain committed in every way to redouble efforts to fighting corruption and is in favour of enhanced multilateralism to support justice and the rule of law.
Minister Fidelis together with Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoestra, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Juan Holguin, and Singaporean Second Foreign Minister Dr. Mohd Maliki Osman, and other Ministers including Justice Minister of Zambia Mulambo Haimbe Foreign Minister of Senegal, Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Nikolay Milkov, and Norwegian State Secretary of International Development and several others, reaffirmed their strong commitment and partnership on anticorruption.
Together the ministers emphasized their strong united front to fight grand corruption. This partnership is important in these crucial times when the cost of corruption is about $1.6 trillion or about 2.7% of global GDP, according to the UN financial integrity panel.
As like-minded countries sharing the values to uphold the rule of law and advance with the social development and the well-being of our citizens, the meeting continued to build strong and fruitful relations so that combatting corruption remains a priority.
On the sidelines of the high-level roundtable in The Hague, Minister Fidelis was the keynote Speaker in a panel convened by the Chair of Integrity Initiatives International, United States Federal Judge Mark L. Wolf, together with international law experts, and International Criminal Court former prosecutors. In speaking to the panel, Minister Fidelis, discussed the idea of the international court against corruption, and emphasized the importance of countries to discuss the proposal.
In the high-level roundtable, Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, met with second Foreign Minister of Singapore, Maliki Osman. Both ministers shared a commitment to intensifying the bilateral relationship and work toward strengthening cooperation in the area of anticorruption.
