Kai example for his country: Finland ranks as least corrupt

LONDON (Reuters) -- Seven out of 10 countries scored less than half marks on a corruption index released on Tuesday that had Bangladesh bottom and Finland as the world's cleanest nation.

"The whole world recognizes that corruption impoverishes people all over the world... We cannot and we must not drop our guard," said Transparency International (TI) head Peter Eigen at the group's London release of its latest annual survey.

The group said its 2003 Corruption Perceptions Index showed unacceptably high levels of public sector corruption in many rich countries but an even worse picture among poor nations where half scored less than three out of 10.

After Bangladesh, the worst offenders were Nigeria, Haiti, Paraguay, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Georgia, Cameroon, Azerbaijan, Angola, Kenya and Indonesia -- all scored under two.

At the other end of the scale, after Finland, which got a 9.7, the least corrupt were Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand, Singapore and Sweden. They all scored more than nine.

The corrupting power of oil was evident in the bad showing of nations such as Nigeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Libya, Venezuela and Iraq, the group said.

TI picked out European nations Greece and Italy as having "worryingly high" levels of corruption. They came 50th and 35th respectively with scores of 4.3 and 5.3.

The list of the 133 nations with sufficient data available was based on surveys of businesspeople, analysts and residents' views of the prevalence of bribes and theft. The TI defines corruption as abuse of public office for private gain.

While Finland and Bangladesh repeated their placings from the 2002 index, there were numerous changes in the list.

The TI singled out the most notable improvers as Austria, Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, Norway, and Tunisia.

"Noteworthy examples of a worsening are Argentina, Belarus, Chile, Canada, Israel, Luxembourg, Poland, USA, and Zimbabwe," Eigen said.

The Berlin-based group hailed a soon-to-be-signed U.N. anti-corruption pact as an "unprecedented breakthrough" and urged rich nations to back governments of poor countries tackling the problem.

It singled out Kenya's reformist President Mwai Kibaki as needing special support.

"To turn Kenya into a country where corruption is not the order of the day requires sustained commitment at both the national and international level, both in terms of financial resources and practical support," Eigen said.

Kenya came joint 122nd with Indonesia on a score of 1.9.

Transparency International urged donor countries and international institutions to take a tougher line on corrupt governments by limiting financial support, and to blacklist any international companies caught paying bribes.

Western governments must get serious on tackling their companies that bribe abroad, Eigen said.

"Their bribes and incentives to corrupt public officials and politicians are undermining the prospects of sustainable development in poorer countries," he said.

The United States came 18th -- jointly with Ireland -- on a score of 7.5. Iraq came 113th with 2.2, a score based mostly on data prior to the U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein.

(C) http://edition.cnn.com/2003/BUSINESS/10/08/corruption.index.reut/index.html

 

Thanx Stevin!

I know we have something of a "hiding place" here in Europe and hope it stays that way...

 

Congrats Kai, this is good to hear. Now if you Finns could help the USA out a bit in cleaning up what needs to be cleaned. The downslide is definately noticed here and it is embarassing.

 

Maybe we Americans need to seriously look at the way we live ? hate to say this but 3/4rs of us are out of shape slobs. maybe if we get off our butts and get some exercise and enjoy God's beauty and we have much of it......we would all have a beter frame of mind. We have this tendantcy to be too critical and non-caring and living a hastened life style which leads to burn-out so the younger generation in my eyes will all be dead by 60. Goota make the buck ! who gives a bloody crap !

Kai I'm coming over in 5 years to enjoy that snow buddy. you cross country ski yes ?

~E

 

Erich--that is all too true.

 

Good for the Finns!

But I am amazed about not seeing Mexico among the worst ones... Or is it that the government of 'change' has actually done something about it?

BUt do you know that there was a similar index about countries where people lives more HAPPILY? Nigeria was number one and Mexico number two while Sweden, Russia, Norway and Finland where in the bottom of the list. Is it the sun and corruption?

 

Definitely, Erich! The best time to do that in Finland is about February-March, especially February as the sun starts shining more and you can enjoy the view during skiing.