KARACHI: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation between both sides to counter corruption, money laundering and facilitate mutual legal assistance, Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said on Thursday.
The agreement was signed by Mazin bin Ibrahim Al-Kahmous, president of Saudi Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) and NAB Chairman Nazir Ahmed during the inaugural session of Asset Recovery Interagency Network for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in Jeddah.
Under this memorandum of understanding (MoU), both agencies have agreed to strengthen collaboration through the exchange of information related to corruption and money laundering. Asset-tracing and recovery of proceeds of crime is also a common area of interest.
“The MoU envisions mutual cooperation in matters related to mutual legal assistance (MLA), and extending technical support for the preparation of MLA requests prior to their submission through diplomatic channels,” Pakistan’s NAB said in a statement.
The Nazaha president lauded NAB efforts in global drive against corruption, especially the reforms that have yielded unprecedented recoveries of 6.4 trillion Pakistani rupees or $23 billion in a short span of time, according to NAB. He particularly praised Chairman NAB’s address to the MENA ARIN forum that objectively covered the challenges faced by all states in curbing corruption.
