We, the leaders of the anti-corruption agencies in the Asia-Pacific region, gathered in Seoul, Korea, on September 15, 2009 to attend the 5th session of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) Forum under the theme: "strengthening the capacity and expanding the role of anti-corruption agencies."

We reaffirmed our common understanding that corruption is a global issue threatening the social and economic growth of many parts of the world by, inter alia, distorting fair competition and impeding the efficient allocation of resources.

We, therefore, commend the incessant, diverse efforts of member agencies to prevent, detect and punish corrupt practices. We recognize and support bilateral and multilateral approaches to the problems caused by corruption.

We endorse the principles of the United Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) which underlines the important role of technical assistance in enhancing the ability of the states to prevent and combat corruption effectively. We also concur that strengthening the role and enhancing the capacity of anti-corruption bodies is essential to the effective resolution of corruption problems and that it is vital to promote collaboration among anti-corruption entities.

As concrete measures of cooperation to enhance the capacity of member agencies, we have agreed on the following:

We will cooperate with one another to the fullest extent to support the development and implementation of policies aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in each country.

We will make every effort to provide one another with training programs on the best practice anti-corruption measures, where appropriate and within the limits of the budget and personnel of each agency concerned.

We will evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of technical assistance and training programs conducted by each agency and share the result of evaluation through the ACA Forum.

We will share the policies to prevent and deter corruption and experiences in implementing those policies with one another, and identify and disseminate best anti-corruption practices.

Recognizing, inter alia, such documents as the Profiling the Public Sector Research Paper of Australia and such programs and tools as Ethics Development Centre of Hong Kong, China, Multimedia Tools for Public Education and Campaign of Indonesia, Integrity Survey of Korea, and Anti-Corruption Academy of Malaysia as useful policy instruments to address corruption, we will make concerted efforts to disseminate those best policy measures.

We will launch an official website of the ACA Forum in 2010, and share best practices and facilitate the exchange of information and data on anti-corruption policies and institutions among member agencies through the website.

We will make efforts to coordinate positions on and respond collectively to international and regional anti-corruption initiatives such as the UNCAC, the APEC Anti-Corruption and Transparency Expert Task Force, and the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiatives for Asia-Pacific.