PETALING JAYA: Companies in developing countries have been giving bribes to corrupt politicians and government officials amounting to US$40bil (RM140bil) every year, says a report on global corruption.
The Global Corruption Report 2009: Corruption and the Private Sector (GCR) conducted by Transparency International (TI), also revealed that half of international business executives polled estimated that corruption raised project costs by at least 10%.
Consumers around the world were overcharged about US$300bil (RM1.5tril) through almost 300 private international groups discovered from 1990 to 2005, the report added.
TI Chair Huguette Labelle said there was a need to foster a culture of corporate integrity to protect investment, increase commercial success and ensure the stability sought by poor and rich countries, especially during the economic crisis.
“Basing a company or fund’s future on personal relationships and unpredictable systems or simply operating in a dark space without oversight and accountability is a path to guaranteed failure,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“Winning on anti-corruption means adding to the bottom line.
“It is time that corporations face up to the risk of paying millions in fines and the long-term loss of trust from their customers and shareholders,” said Labelle.
The GCR is a yearly publication from TI that compiles expert research and analysis from around the world with a focus on corruption.
It consists of more than 75 experts examining the scale, scope and devastating consequences of corporate corruption.
The report is complemented by 45 in-depth country reports along with the best practices and recommendations to combat graft.
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