ENG-1998 — Page 373

PUBLIC ORDER

The department undertook 234 consultation exercises to ensure that early corruption prevention advice was given in the formulation of public sector policies and procedures.

In the private sector, corruption prevention advice was offered to various organisations on 231 occasions in 1998. The main problem areas were related to procurement, stock control, staff and wage administration, and information security. Easy-to-use 'best practice' guidelines are made available to private sector organisations to enable them to include corruption prevention safeguards in their procedures.

Education

During the year, the Community Relations Department continued its preventive education programme in the community, particularly in selected areas.

The civil service formed the main focus of this programme. Besides conducting training sessions for staff of government departments and public bodies, the department joined hands with the Civil Service Bureau to organise a seminar for more than 300 senior government officials to enhance the integrity of civil servants.

The department also played an active part to promote professional ethics in the securities, futures and investments sectors. A conference attended by about 200 senior executives marked the start of a two-year training programme for employees in these

sectors.

The department reached recent immigrants from the Mainland and more than 1 000 small and medium-size businesses to publicise the ICAC's services.

Young people are a priority area in the department's preventive education work. With other organisations the department carried out a series of programmes for young people. District projects were co-organised with 18 Provisional District Boards to spread the anti-corruption message.

The department visited 96 candidates and 156 election agents and helpers to highlight the importance of clean elections before the Legislative Council elections in May. It continued to produce radio and TV commercials to educate the public on the consequences of corruption and to enlist their support. A new TV drama series was produced and telecast in November.

International Co-operation

During the year, the ICAC received 294 visitors from various countries. ICAC officers attended several overseas conferences, including the Third International Financial Fraud Convention in London and the First Conference on Corruption- Related Crime in Lyons.

A new section was formed in the Operations Department in April to enhance liaison with overseas anti-corruption organisations and law enforcement agencies. Directorate officers regularly meet senior officers of major overseas law enforcement agencies stationed in Hong Kong to discuss matters of mutual interest.

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