DATE=8/4/97
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-218094
TITLE=WORLD / CORRUPTION (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=MAXIM KNIAZKOV
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: AN INTERNATIONAL CORRUPTION-MONITORING GROUP SAYS NIGERIA
SEEMS TO BE THE MOST GRAFT-RIDDEN COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, WHILE
DENMARK APPEARS TO BE THE LEAST CORRUPT. V-O-A'S MAXIM KNIAZKOV
HAS MORE ON A REPORT RELEASED BY THE GROUP CALLED TRANSPARENCY
INTERNATIONAL.
TEXT: THE ORGANIZATION OFFICIALLY CALLS ITS ANNUAL REPORT, "THE
CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX." MANAGING DIRECTOR NANCY BOSWELL
SAYS THIS IS BECAUSE CORRUPTION IS ALWAYS ILLICIT AND DIFFICULT
TO TRACE.
THEREFORE, TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL RELIES ON THE OPINION OF
BUSINESS EXECUTIVES AND OTHER PEOPLE DEALING WITH FOREIGN
COUNTRIES. USING SUCH SURVEYS, SAYS MS. BOSWELL, THE
ORGANIZATION HAS BEEN ABLE TO RANK COUNTRIES PERCEIVED AS MOST OR
LEAST SUSCEPTIBLE TO CORRUPTION.
// ACT ONE BOSWELL //
AMONG THE BEST SCORES -- OR THE LEAST-CORRUPT COUNTRIES
-- WERE MANY OF THE SCANDINAVIANS, INCLUDING DENMARK AT
THE TOP, FINLAND, SWEDEN AND LAST YEAR'S NUMBER ONE
RANKER, NEW ZEALAND, WHICH IS NOW NUMBER FOUR. AT THE
OTHER END OF THE LIST, AMONG THOSE COUNTRIES PERCEIVED
TO BE MOST CORRUPT, NIGERIA STILL IS AT THE BOTTOM OF
THE RANKING. BUT YOU HAVE RUSSIA. COLOMBIA, BOLIVIA,
PAKISTAN ALSO AMONG THE GROUPING OF COUNTRIES AT THAT
END OF THE SCORE.
// END ACT //
TRANSPARENCY RESEARCHERS CAUTION THE PLACEMENT OF NIGERIA AT THE
BOTTOM OF THE LIST DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN IT IS THE MOST
CORRUPT COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. THE REPORT COVERS ONLY 52 STATES,
FOR WHICH THERE IS ENOUGH RELEVANT DATA. THAT IS WHY RESEARCHERS
SAY THERE MAY EXIST OTHER, MORE GRAFT-RIDDEN NATIONS.
AMONG THE MOST NOTICEABLE CHANGES SINCE LAST YEAR'S SURVEY ...
THE GROUP POINTED TO RUSSIA'S SLIPPAGE FROM 10TH TO ONLY FOURTH
PLACE FROM THE BOTTOM -- A REFLECTION OF RAPID CRIMINALIZATION OF
THAT COUNTRY'S ECONOMY.
THE UNITED STATES RANKED 16TH FROM THE TOP, AFTER ISRAEL, BUT
BEFORE AUSTRIA.
BUT ALTHOUGH WESTERN INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS GENERALLY TOP THE
LIST, MS. BOSWELL SAYS IT WILL BE WRONG TO CONCLUDE THAT THEIR
POORER COUNTERPARTS ARE SYNONYMOUS WITH CORRUPTION.
// ACT TWO BOSWELL //
YOU HAVE A LOT OF WESTERN COUNTRIES AT THE UPPER,
CLEANER END, AND A LOT OF THE EMERGING ECONOMIES, OR
DEVELOPING ECONOMIES, AT THE BOTTOM END. THAT IS NOT
IN ANY WAY TO SAY THAT THE INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES
DON'T SHARE IN THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THESE RANKINGS
BECAUSE MANY COUNTRIES PERMIT THEIR COMPANIES TO BRIBE
FOREIGN PUBLIC OFFICIALS.
// END ACT //
MS. BOSWELL BELIEVES HER ORGANIZATION'S REPORTS WILL EVENTUALLY
PROD OTHER COUNTRIES TO FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF THE UNITED STATES
AND BAR COMPANIES FROM USING BRIBES OVERSEAS. SHE ALSO HOPES THE
SURVEYS WILL SPUR MORE ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGNS AROUND THE
WORLD, AS EMERGING ECONOMIES SCRAMBLE TO ATTRACT FOREIGN
INVESTMENT. (SIGNED)
NEB/MAX/RRM
04-Aug-97 4:50 PM EDT (2050 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
