A workshop on engaging parliamentarians in the anti-corruption agenda is underway in Nay Pyi Taw to prepare for drafting anti-corruption bill, official media reported Sunday.

The two-day workshop, which began on Saturday, focused on parliament's ethics and obligation, supervision, UN Convention against Corruption, concept of corruption and transparency of finance and public finance management, said the New Light of Myanmar.

Speaker of the Union Parliament and House of Nationalities (Upper House) U Khin Aung Myint said discussions are underway in the parliament on urgent draft of anti-corruption bill.

He linked the root cause of bribery in Myanmar to poverty which has plunged the country among the poorest in the world.

The workshop is jointly organized by Spectrum and Gopac and is attended by members of the standing committee of the two Houses and parliamentary affairs committee.

The Myanmar government has vowed to fight corruption effectively, warning that corruption is an unacceptable and unpardonable misconduct in building a disciplined democratic nation and affects the dignity of the nation and the people.

In a statement on anti-corruption issued earlier, the Home Ministry said the government is writing a new bill to replace the existing Suppression of Corruption Act 1948 at the parliament to meet the needs of the present time and international norms.

The statement invites citizens to openly report bribery cases to the Bureau of Special Investigation and Head Office of the Home Ministry.

The statement called for public participation in the elimination of bribery and corruption to ensure good governance and clean government.