Transparency International “Corruption Perception Index” Publication

Transparency International “Corruption Perception Index” Publication

18 October 2005, Tbilisi — Today “Transparency International” has published the results of “Corruption Perception Index 2005”, which ranks countries in terms of the degree in which business people and country analysts, both residents and non-residents, perceive corruption to exist in the public and political sectors. This year Georgia has received 2.3 points (out of total ten) in this ranking and it is on 130th place among the 158 countries included in the survey. Compared to last year’s results, Georgia has progressed by 0.3 points. With the score below 3.0 that puts Georgia together with Burundi, Cambodia, Congo, Venezuela, Papua New Guinea and Kyrgyzstan, it is clear that there is still a strong perception of endemic corruption in this country. However, the modest improvement shows that change is possible with political will, although there is a long way to go to clean up corrupt systems. This slight change in public perception can be attributed to several high-profile anti-corruption campaigns, including prosecution of corruption officials, and instituting reforms on the level of individual ministries. But in order for the Government’s anti-corruption campaign to bear sustainable results, additional efforts need to be put into developing more comprehensive anti-corruption policies and building profound institutions that will prevent corruption. To date, instead, the Government’s anti-corruption strategy has been more curative than preventive in focus. In June of 2005 the President approved Georgia’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy that identifies Corruption Prevention and Institutional Reform, Liberalization of the Business Environment, Ratification and Implementation of International Anti-Corruption Conventions, and Promotion of Public Participation in Anti- Corruption Activities as main priorities of Government’s future anti-corruption campaign. Based on this Strategy the Government has developed an Implementation Action Plan that is aimed to propose specific activities for implementing the Strategy. Now that these documents have been produced, it is of great importance that their implementation is broadly supported by the executive, parliament, and the public, and that they enjoy wide ownership. Without understanding what to expect from the Government’s decisions, Georgian citizens are unable to support their Government in its period of reform. Georgia’s fight against corruption will be more successful if this process is well-planned and inclusive, thus allowing the public to actively participate in eliminating corruption instead of remaining an isolated spectator.

Please see the file for details:

http://www.humanrights.ge/eng/files/CPI%202005%20chart-E.doc