Indonesia gains better image in 1996
Indonesia gains better image in 1996
BERLIN (AFP): Nigeria, followed by Pakistan and Kenya, are
perceived by businessmen as the world's most corrupt countries,
Transparency International (TI), a Berlin-based body devoted to
fighting corruption said yesterday.
Indonesia, which in the 1995 TI index was listed as the most
corrupt country, gained a better image as the 1996 index listed
it among the group of second most corrupt countries.
New Zealand, followed by Denmark and Sweden, were seen as the
least corrupt, according to TI's second annual Corruption
Perceptions Index.
The 1996 index, based on 10 different surveys reflecting
businessmen's impressions and perceptions of 54 countries,
attributes an "overall integrity rating" of zero to 10, with the
most corrupt receiving the lowest figure and the least corrupt
the highest.
"A 10 equals an entirely clean country while zero equals a
country where business transactions are entirely dominated by
kickbacks," TI said.
On the bottom end of this scale, the TI index gave a score of
0.69 to Nigeria, 1.00 to Pakistan and 2.21 to Kenya, followed by
Bangladesh (2.29), China (2.43) and Cameroon (2.46). They were
followed by Egypt, Colombia, Uganda, the Philippines and
Indonesia, occupying the 41st to 45th position.
At the top end came New Zealand (9.43), Denmark (9.33) and
Sweden (9.08), Finland (9.05), Canada (8.96) and Norway (8.87).
In seventh position came Singapore (8.80), ahead of Switzerland
(8.76).
Britain, Germany and Israel came in 12th, 13th and 14th
position.
"To the extent that any country has a problem with its
ranking, this lies not with the index but rather with the
perception that businessmen polled apparently have of that
country," TI said.
"Their perceptions may not always be a fair reflection on the
state of affairs, but they are a reality."
TI emphasized that the findings do not necessarily mean
Nigeria is the most corrupt country in the world. "Nigeria is
perceived by business people to be the most corrupt country which
has been included in our list," it said.
Corruption was perceived to be on the increase in Argentina,
China and Russia, among other countries, said index research
chief Johann Graf Lambsdorff of Goettingen University, who cited
Indonesia and Portugal for their anti-corruption efforts.
TI president Peter Eigen, a former senior World Bank official,
stressed the important influence on developing countries of
corrupt practices by multinational firms.
Eigen said that while corruption was seen as a problem of the
developing world, most bribes associated with international
contracts were paid by managers of firms based in the
industrialized world.
He said it was a scandal that most of the governments of
industrialized countries had not adopted laws to fight such
practices.
The rankings seek to assess the degree of corrupt practices,
but TI admits that the figures are not objective, saying this
would be almost impossible given the concealed or secret nature
of corruption.
TI refutes the notion that corruption is part of the culture
of some countries -- often cited as the excuse for paying bribes
-- and insists it is regarded as illegitimate behavior in all
environments.
Corruption was defined as "the misuse of public power for
private benefits, " such as the bribing of public officials,
taking kickbacks in public procurement or embezzling public
funds.
To compute its index, TI made a "poll of polls" using
management and economic surveys augmented by replies to a
Goettingen University Internet service and direct approaches to
employees of multinational firms and institutions.