Copyright 1999 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 26-Oct-99 ***
Title: ECONOMY: Watchdog Ranks Bribe Givers, Takers//RELATE//
/ATT. EDITORS: The following may be related to 'ECONOMY:
Graft Galore', moved earlier from Washington/
WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (IPS) - Corruption watchdog Transparency
International released two league tables of global graft Tuesday.
The group's first 'Bribe Payers Perceptions Index' ranked 19
major exporting countries by how clean their companies were
thought to be by trading partners.
A 'perfect' score of 10 would have indicated that a country's
companies were seen as virtually graft-free; a score of zero would
reflect the perception of rampant bribe-giving in exchange for
overseas business.
Results were: Sweden (8.3 points); Australia (8.1); Canada
(8.1); Austria (7.8); Switzerland (7.7); Netherlands (7.4);
Britain (7.2); Belgium (6.8); Germany and United States (6.2);
Singapore (5.7); Spain (5.3); France (5.2); Japan (5.1); Malaysia
(3.9); Italy (3.7); Taiwan (3.5); South Korea (3.4); China,
including Hong Kong (3.1).
Opinions for the bribers' index were supplied by executives in
14 developing countries, which together accounted for more than 60
percent of all imports by emerging markets.
African countries surveyed were Morocco, Nigeria and South
Africa.
Asia-Pacific participants included India, Indonesia,
Philippines, South Korea and Thailand; those from Latin America
were Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. Europeans surveyed were
Hungary, Poland and Russia.
Transparency International's fifth annual 'Corruption
Perceptions Index' scored 99 countries. Like the bribers' index,
this also was a survey of opinions about the level of corruption
among public officials in given countries.
Those opinions were shaped by perceptions about the functioning
and independence of local justice systems and concerns such as the
level of civil-service pay. They were culled from a series of
surveys conducted over the past three years.
Again, a 'perfect' score of 10 meant that investors thought a
country was squeaky-clean; zero meant that they thought the
country's public institutions were rotten to the core. Corruption
problems were deemed serious in all countries with scores lower
than 5.5, and chronic in those with fewer than three points.
Denmark led the table with 10; Cameroon came last with 1.5.
Among African countries, Botswana ranked highest (and 24th
overall) with 6.1 points, with other countries scoring as follows:
Namibia, 5.3; South Africa, 5.0; Malawi and Zimbabwe, 4.1;
Mozambique and Zambia, 3.5; Senegal, 3.4; Ghana, 3.3; Cote
d'Ivoire, 2.6; Uganda, 2.2; Kenya, 2.0; Tanzania, 1.9; and
Nigeria, 1.6.
Singapore led the Asia-Pacific field with 9.1 points, ranking
seventh overall. Scores elsewhere in the region included: Hong
Kong, 7.7; Japan, 6.0; Taiwan, 5.6; Malaysia, 5.1; Mongolia, 4.3;
South Korea, 3.8; Philippines, 3.6; China, 3.4; Thailand, 3.2;
India, 2.9; Vietnam, 2.6; Pakistan, 2.2; and Indonesia, 1.7.
Latin America and the Caribbean was led by Chile, which ranked
19th and scored 6.9 points. Costa Rica scored 5.1; Peru, 4.5;
Uruguay, 4.4; Brazil, 4.1; El Salvador, 3.9; Jamaica, 3.8; Mexico,
3.4; Nicaragua, 3.1; Argentina, 3.0; Colombia, 2.9; Bolivia, 2.5;
Ecuador, 2.4; Paraguay, 2.0; and Honduras, 1.8.
The top 20 countries were dominated by Western states,
including: Denmark, scoring 10; Finland, with 9.8; New Zealand,
9.4; Sweden, 9.4; Canada and Iceland, 9.2; Netherlands; 9.0;
Norway and Switzerland, 8.9; Luxembourg, 8.8; Australia, 8.7;
Britain, 8.6; Germany, 8.0; Ireland, 7.7; Austria, 7.6; and the
United States, 7.5.
Israel ranked 20th with 6.8 points. Tunisia garnered 5.0 points
and Jordan, 4.4; Morocco, 4.1; Turkey 3.6; and Egypt, 3.3.
Countries in transition covered by the survey included
Slovenia, which scored 6.0; Estonia, with 5.7; Hungary, 5.2; Czech
Republic, 4.6; Poland, 4.2; Lithuania, 3.8; Slovak Republic, 3.7;
Belarus and Latvia, 3.4; Croatia, 2.7; Ukraine, 2.6; Georgia, 2.3;
Yugoslavia, 2.0; Uzbekistan, 1.8; and Azerbaijan, 1.7.
''We live in a world of bribe-takers in government and bribe-
suppliers in business,'' said Transparency International Vice
Chairman Frank Vogl, a Washington businessman.
''It is striking how many countries...have made efforts to
ensure low to moderately low levels of corruption among their own
public officials and civil servants,'' Vogl said.
''Yet these same officials and politicians have done little to
stop companies in their jurisdiction from bribing foreign
officials. This is hypocritical and short-sighted.''
(END/IPS/aa/mk/99)
Origin: ROMAWAS/ECONOMY/
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[c] 1999, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)
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