On Tuesday, April 29, 2025 at 8.00 PM., Mr. Bhumivisan Kasemsook, Secretary-General of the PACC, along with officials from the Foreign Affairs Division, attended the “Integrity Talk with Julia Fromholz: The Fight Against Foreign Bribery.” This forum shared important progress in combating bribery of foreign officials for business advantages. Julia Fromholz, Head of the Anti-Corruption Division in the OECD’s Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, led the discussion, which focused on past challenges, current situations, and future trends in fighting foreign bribery.

Foreign bribery was considered a criminal offense in 46 member countries under the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. These member countries had adapted their domestic laws to align with the Convention’s obligations and used an All-of-Government Approach to systematically enhance corruption prevention and suppression, covering legal aspects, enforcement, and international cooperation.

The Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions (WGB) played a vital role in supporting member countries and those applying to join the Convention by providing technical assistance, promoting peer learning, and raising awareness among stakeholders from both public and private sectors. This was essential for sustainably advancing international standards against foreign bribery. Current and future challenges include law enforcement issues, such as deficiencies in member countries’ law enforcement, slow progress in implementing the Working Group's recommendations, limited legal reforms, and restricted access to information for monitoring anti-corruption policy outcomes. Additionally, stakeholder participation issues included raising awareness about foreign bribery risks and management methods, the need for new information and technologies, and corruption in growing industries such as green transition, all of which were causing concerns.