ASEAN come together / Global database / Ignore standard?

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INFO: Governments and private sector come together to fight business sector corruption in ASEAN countries.  "The U.S. - ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit held this February in California confirmed the importance of the Southeast Asian region for the U.S. and constituted a decisive opportunity for the ASEAN countries to demonstrate their efforts in tackling regional challenges. Among these, corruption in the business sector is a crucial issue: economic integration is one of the key priorities of the Plan of Action to implement the ASEAN - US Strategic Partnership 2016-2020, but high levels of corruption in the countries of the region constitute a serious impediment for foreign investments and businesses."

Read the article in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) portal: https://www.unodc.org/southeastasiaandpacific/en/what-we-do/anti-corruption/topics/02-business-forum.html

INFO: UN plans global municipal fiscal database to aid city planning.  The United Nations and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy have agreed to build a new, global municipal fiscal database that aims to improve sustainable urbanisation.

Read the article by Emma Rumney, in Public Finance International. http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2016/03/un-plans-global-municipal-fiscal-database-aid-city-planning

COMMENTARY: Ignore Standard Good Governance Prescriptions to Accelerate Development.  "Many well-meaning people believe that 'good governance' is key to inclusive development. But research claiming that 'good governance' is essential for rapid growth suffers from serious methodological or conceptual limitations. Existing definitions are extremely broad, suffer from functionalist tautology, or mainly refer to corruption."

Read the op-ed by Jomo Kwame Sundaram, former UN Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development, and Anis Chowdhury, in Inter Press Service. http://www.ipsnews.net/2016/03/opinion-ignore-standard-good-governance-prescriptions-to-accelerate-development-2/

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