ABC Radio Australia
The corruption watchdog Transparency International has released its annual ranking of countries and it is a mixed bag for Asia. While many Asian nations still languish towards the bottom of the list, there are slight improvements, with Indonesia rewarded for its efforts at tackling graft.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers:
Listen: Windows Media
The corruption watchdog Transparency International has released its annual ranking of countries and it is a mixed bag for Asia. While many Asian nations still languish towards the bottom of the list, there are slight improvements, with Indonesia rewarded for its efforts at tackling graft.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers:
Listen: Windows Media
COCHRANE: Each year, Transparency International ranks 180 nations on the basis of surveys and expert opinion, with those perceived as being the least corrupt on top of the list and the most corrupt at the bottom. Leading the pack for transparency were, predictibly, more developed nations such as New Zealand, Singapore and Australia. At the bottom of the list, Burma came second last and Afghanistan was not much better.
The regional giants rated towards the middle, with China ranking 72nd and India 85th, while Japan scored well, in 18th place. There was movement up the scale for others, including Indonesia, which jumped 17 places from its ranking last year. Fadhil Hasan is the director of the Indonesia's Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance.
HASAN: Well then I think if I have to single out one factor it's the existence and action of the committee of anti-corruption who have done a great job.
COCHRANE: The Corruption Eradication Committee in Indonesia has gone after corrupt officials, detaining people from the central bank, the attorney-general's office, parliament and the customs department. The crackdown was part of a promise by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to tackle graft when he was elected in 2004. He has been criticised by some for rebuking but not sacking two ministers who were implicated in a bribery scandal.
Overall, however, Fadhil Hasan says the arrests are having an effect on the way people do business and that, in turn, is helping grow the business environment.
HASAN: People now start to (be) afraid to do corruption. So (that) makes things more transparanet and makes costs of doing business and also transaction costs is less than before. Which means we are more efficient and more competitive in the economy. This is a factor that makes foreign investors and domestic as well more atttractive to invest in Indonesia.
COCHRANE: But corruption continues to plague other countries in Asia, with East Timor, the Philippines, Laos and Cambodia remaining among the most graft-ridden nations. Cambodia's economy has boomed in recent years, with foreign investors showing interest despite the lack of transparency. Aaron Bornstein is the chief of a US-funded anti-corruption program run by the organisation PACT. He says part of the problem is the lack of a legal framework to deal with the issue.
BORNSTEIN: There's not an anti-corruption law here and there's been one in discussion for 14 years or so. At the same time there's a lot of discussion of corruption in everday life.
COCHRANE: Mr Bornstein said that while the government might be ignoring the problem, its an issue that is on the minds of the public, with around 500 stories on corruption appearing in the Cambodian media each month. One new effort underway to tackle corruption is the Clean Business Initiative, launched by PACT this week. The initiative invites companies to register as a clean business and show their commitment to transparency.
BORNSTEIN: For 80 percent of them or so corruption is their main problem. They don't like it. So we are trying to build a platform so that more and more companies who want to opt out of that system can and will and will have a vehicle both for promoting integrity in business operations as well as adding their voice to those companies that already are trying to press the governmnet to enact business reforms and make it a bit easier to do business in this country."
COCHRANE: Aaron Bornstein says 40 companies have already signed up, including some major international brands with offices in Cambodia.
The regional giants rated towards the middle, with China ranking 72nd and India 85th, while Japan scored well, in 18th place. There was movement up the scale for others, including Indonesia, which jumped 17 places from its ranking last year. Fadhil Hasan is the director of the Indonesia's Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance.
HASAN: Well then I think if I have to single out one factor it's the existence and action of the committee of anti-corruption who have done a great job.
COCHRANE: The Corruption Eradication Committee in Indonesia has gone after corrupt officials, detaining people from the central bank, the attorney-general's office, parliament and the customs department. The crackdown was part of a promise by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to tackle graft when he was elected in 2004. He has been criticised by some for rebuking but not sacking two ministers who were implicated in a bribery scandal.
Overall, however, Fadhil Hasan says the arrests are having an effect on the way people do business and that, in turn, is helping grow the business environment.
HASAN: People now start to (be) afraid to do corruption. So (that) makes things more transparanet and makes costs of doing business and also transaction costs is less than before. Which means we are more efficient and more competitive in the economy. This is a factor that makes foreign investors and domestic as well more atttractive to invest in Indonesia.
COCHRANE: But corruption continues to plague other countries in Asia, with East Timor, the Philippines, Laos and Cambodia remaining among the most graft-ridden nations. Cambodia's economy has boomed in recent years, with foreign investors showing interest despite the lack of transparency. Aaron Bornstein is the chief of a US-funded anti-corruption program run by the organisation PACT. He says part of the problem is the lack of a legal framework to deal with the issue.
BORNSTEIN: There's not an anti-corruption law here and there's been one in discussion for 14 years or so. At the same time there's a lot of discussion of corruption in everday life.
COCHRANE: Mr Bornstein said that while the government might be ignoring the problem, its an issue that is on the minds of the public, with around 500 stories on corruption appearing in the Cambodian media each month. One new effort underway to tackle corruption is the Clean Business Initiative, launched by PACT this week. The initiative invites companies to register as a clean business and show their commitment to transparency.
BORNSTEIN: For 80 percent of them or so corruption is their main problem. They don't like it. So we are trying to build a platform so that more and more companies who want to opt out of that system can and will and will have a vehicle both for promoting integrity in business operations as well as adding their voice to those companies that already are trying to press the governmnet to enact business reforms and make it a bit easier to do business in this country."
COCHRANE: Aaron Bornstein says 40 companies have already signed up, including some major international brands with offices in Cambodia.
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