The Council of Europe, through the Action on Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime in Central Asia, organised a four-day training of trainers in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Kazakhstan (ATAMEKEN) in Astana on 5-8 December 2023.

A total of 25 representatives of the private sector, including business associations, joint-stock companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as the General Prosecutors Office, the Anticorruption Agency, the Astana International Finance Centre, and the Financial Monitoring Agency (Kazakh FIU) participated in the training. 

The training aimed at improving the understanding of the trainers on corporate anticorruption compliance as a function, a process and a multi-stakeholder endeavour, and familiarising them with the tools available for the prevention of corporate corruption and in fostering good corporate governance. The presentations and discussions focussed on key integrity concepts such as ethics and codes of conduct, policies and measures for whistleblower protection, the management of conflicts of interest, or the disclosure of beneficial owners. Good procurement practices and stakeholder cooperation with civil society and the public sector were also part of the discussions between the Council of Europe experts and participants.

Additionally, training participants received coaching on how to educate others in anti-corruption compliance and had the opportunity to practice their expertise by making use of the techniques and tools for the transfer of knowledge that had been shared with them throughout the training and in the dedicated training techniques sessions.

Following the training, participants would be able to introduce and/or disseminate the anticorruption compliance knowledge in their own companies and among member companies, hence ensuring sustainability and a multiplying effect of the project’s activities. This training builds on the key findings of the regional workshop on Enhancing business integrity and compliance of the private sector in Central Asia of July 2023 in Strasbourg.

This activity was organised by the Action on “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023, a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.