In the recently released Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index for 2015, majority of the developing member countries (DMCs) of Asian Development Bank (ADB) ranked in the bottom half. Combined with weak governance and rising income inequality in the region that continues to be home to half of the world's poor, it serves as a serious threat to the economic growth that Asia and the Pacific has built towards and been experiencing in recent years, and weakens ADB's capacity to effectively achieve its mission of improving the quality of life of people in its DMCs.

ADB's Gambhir Bhatta, Clare Wee, and Cholpon Mambetova in this event jointly organized by iACT and ADB's Governance Thematic Group shared how ADB can employ practical solutions to tackle corruption, not only at the country level but also at the project level. The event featured how a small DMC such as Bhutan has effectively addressed the problem of corruption, and how ADB can assist other DMCs to fight against corruption on their own.