News Archive
Looking ahead: what lies in the future?
News reported on 03/15/07 04:15 PM
Gerhard Prätorius, Senior Executive Manager of Volkswagen Germany, spoke about how addressing corruption may be less important than preventing it in the first place, through training of managers and collection of best practices. He stated that a successful anti-corruption system addresses corporate culture guidelines, incorporates stronger leadership, uses a strict risk management system, establishes an ombudsmen system, and adds ethics training to its management skillset. He also spoke about the demand of many clients for high levels of corporate social responsibility.
Graham Baxter, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility for BP, discussed how globalization has given both corruption and communication a global reach, and so corporate conduct must be the starting place for fighting corruption. He noted that a reputation of incorruptibility and billions spent on this agenda has created valuable benefits for the company, but that a good governance initiative would be the right thing to do even if it were not good business. Baxter urged conference attendees to retain the energy, cooperation, and leadership that had been displayed during sessions.
Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, noted that governance and corruption are relatively new concepts to be addressed by the international community. He compared efforts against corruption to striving for legitimate democracy. Michel highlighted the central nature of good governance to a number of other development efforts, but he warned of the legacy of colonialism and its role in corruption, as there is always a corruptor where bad governance occurs.
Stan Sangweni, Professor from the South African Public Service Commission, spoke about his country's involvement in international politics despite its young age as a democracy, including the upcoming Global Forum 5 which will be held in Johannesburg. He summarized his conference as strong voices telling stories of success, but also stories of personal and political commitment to the fight against corruption. He called for rich countries to help repatriate the funds lost to corruption, and to join in a partnership between the North and South countries. Sangweni asked why there were not as many ministerial-level officials from the North present, compared to those from the South.
Bert Koenders, Minister for Development Cooperation from the Netherlands, made sure to link supply and demand sides of the corruption equation, and asked for more accountability at future meetings. He criticized the "wait and see" approach toward corruption, and laid out possible actions to curb the misuse of development funds. Koenders proposed initiatives that allow money to be followed more transparently, and suggested that harmonization and cooperation agreements should be much more specific. He finished with an appeal to reach out to small and medium enterprises as partners, and to examine links between privatization and corruption critically.
Hear recordings of the statements from Prätorius, Baxter, Michel, Sangweni, and Koenders.
At the Conference
