Implementation of anti-corruption practices in firms across the Gulf region remains a challenge with only 45 per cent of companies saying they have an anti-corruption policy in place, a report said.  

However, more than 80 per cent of business leaders across the Gulf region identify corruption as a problem, added the report titled “At a Glance: Anti-Corruption Good Practice”, by Pearl Initiative, a leading independent private sector-led, not-for-profit organisation aiming to improve corporate accountability and transparency.

The report offers a practical guide for regional companies to incorporate anti-corruption measures into their operations and demonstrates that tackling corruption can boost job creation and profits and promote international expansion of companies across the region.

Speaking about the report, Imelda Dunlop, executive director of the Pearl Initiative, said: “We recognise that regional business leaders are increasingly aware of the strong business case for tackling corruption. Companies that have a strong set of anti-corruption good practices in place, perform better and are able to grow sustainably. Our latest report provides a step by step programme to successfully implement a strong set of anti-corruption guidelines.”

The report includes six practical steps to establish an anti-corruption programme for businesses operating in the Gulf region: Companies should start with understanding their environment, becoming familiar with the accepted standards and guidance and conducting a corruption risk assessment.

This should then be followed by the design and implementation of an anti-corruption compliance programme. The final two steps in any effective anti-corruption programme as outlined in the report are monitoring and auditing the programme and periodically re-assessing risk and modifying the programme accordingly.

The report also indicates that globally corruption adds up to 10 per cent to the cost of doing business and up to 25 per cent to the cost of public procurement, based on figures published by the World Bank.

It also highlights that 21 per cent of regional companies have been the victims of an economic crime and of these, 12 per cent have suffered losses of $5 million due to corporate corruption over the past two years, according to data from PwC. – TradeArabia News Service