Damascus, January 02 (QNA) - Syria has expressed its deep gratitude to Qatar — its leadership, government, and people — for their unlimited support to the Syrian people and their role in fostering cooperation between Syrian institutions and their international counterparts, according to Engineer Amer Al Ali, Chairman of the Syrian Central Authority for Control and Inspection.

Speaking to the Qatar News Agency (QNA), Al Ali described Syria's participation in the 2025 United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) conference in Doha as a pivotal step in re-engaging with international bodies focused on integrity, transparency, and anti-corruption after years of absence.

Syria attended the conference as an observer and is currently reviewing the legal and institutional frameworks necessary to ratify the convention, which will later be presented to the People's Assembly.

Al Ali emphasized the importance of Syria's participation in re-establishing its presence within the international anti-corruption community, aligning with global standards on transparency, and benefiting from the experiences of leading countries in governance, law enforcement, and institutional development.

On the sidelines of the Doha conference, the Syrian delegation held bilateral meetings with representatives from around 12 friendly countries and several international anti-corruption organizations to discuss capacity-building, training, financial tracking, and digital transformation.

A key meeting with Qatar's Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, he added, resulted in plans for an extended visit to study Qatar's legislative, policy, and digital systems, with memoranda of understanding expected to be signed soon.

Domestically, Al Ali outlined a series of reforms within Syria's Central Oversight Authority, aimed at addressing institutional inefficiencies inherited from previous administrations. These include implementing a modern digital system, automating complaint handling, investigation processes, and data analysis. Currently, the new central program, which covers the authority's headquarters and provincial branches, is 60-70 percent complete.

In 2025, the authority registered approximately 1,400 economic, financial, and administrative cases — including embezzlement, contract manipulation, and document forgery — referring around 200 cases to the judiciary and involving 1,350-1,400 individuals. Investigations confirmed nearly 350 billion Syrian pounds in receivables, of which over 100 billion pounds were collected and deposited into the state treasury.

Al Ali also highlighted the launch of a public sector integrity and transparency framework aimed at unifying oversight standards, integrating financial and administrative controls, implementing risk-based and real-time monitoring, digitizing procedures, and utilizing artificial intelligence tools.

He concluded by stressing the authority's efforts to update legal frameworks, strengthen professional and financial independence, restructure organizational systems, and engage civil society and media in promoting a culture of integrity, all aimed at safeguarding public funds and improving institutional performance in Syria. (QNA)