| Azlan Othman |
BRUNEI Darussalam has been ranked the 41st most honest nation by Transparency International, which conducts an annual survey analysing corruption levels worldwide.
The Sultanate was the second least corrupt nation in the Asean region, and the eighth best performer in Asia, with a score of 58.
Brunei placed 41st globally in Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index, which was published yesterday.
According to the latest report, Brunei scored 58 out of the maximum score of 100.
Brunei was not ranked in the 2015 Index, but the Sultanate stood in 60th place in 2014 and 55th in 2013.
The score of 0 is ‘highly corrupt’ and 100 ‘very clean’.
The least corrupt countries last year were Denmark and New Zealand, both scoring 90, followed by Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway.
Singapore was the best performer in Asia, with a score of 84 and placed seventh globally.
At the bottom of the list were Somalia, South Sudan and North Korea.
The latest report stated that majority of Asia-Pacific countries sit in the bottom half of the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.
Nineteen out of 30 countries in the region scored 40 or less out of 100.
Poor performance can be attributed to unaccountable governments, lack of oversight, insecurity and shrinking space for civil society, which push anti-corruption action to the margins in those countries.
High-profile corruption scandals, in addition to everyday corruption issues, continue to undermine public trust in government, the benefits of democracy and the rule of law.
The Corruption Perceptions Index is the leading global indicator of public sector corruption. Compiled by Berlin-based Transparency International, it is a yearly snapshot of the relative degree of worldwide corruption, arrived at by scoring and ranking the public sectors in countries from all over the globe.
This year’s index encompasses 176 countries.
When the Corruption Perceptions Index is produced each year, it reinforces the global importance of transparency in the public sector.
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