Businesses in RI among top bribe payers

JAKARTA. Indonesia was ranked 4th from bottom on Transparency International’s recently released Bribe Payers index, which said that firms operating in the nation were very likely to pay bribes as part of doing business.

The Berlin-based anti-corruption campaign released on Wednesday its 2011 Bribe Payers Index, which ranked 28 leading international and regional exporting countries by the likelihood their firms would pay bribes abroad.

The survey awarded Indonesia a score of 7.1, below the overall average score of 7.8.

Wahyudi, an economic governance researcher for TI’s Indonesia office, said the survey showed that local and foreign businesses in Indonesia were likely to pay bribes.

“The survey shows that the bigger the score on the Bribe Payers Index, the more likely the companies in the country engage bribery,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The survey also indicated that local and foreign businesses in Indonesia were prone to higher operating costs due to frequent bribe payments.

The index was based on a survey of 3,016 business executives from developed and developing countries. On a scale of 0 to 10, the scores were based on the responses of executives about their business relations in the 28 countries surveyed.

According to the survey, many international businesspeople reported a widespread practice of paying bribes to public officials to, for example, win public tenders, avoid regulations, speed up government processes or influence policies.

The report also looked at bribe payments among companies and business-to-business bribery, saying that corruption was a concern for the public sector and the business sector alike as it carried major risks to the reputations and finances for the companies involved.

Viewing endemic corruption in Indonesia, the government established the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), a special law enforcement body to investigate and prosecute corruption cases.

Last year, Indonesia signed the G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan, which highlighted the importance of enforcing regulations against international bribery.

Hayi Muhammad from Indonesia Procurement Watch said that bribery was a common practice in Indonesia and that such systemic misdoings had also spread to internationally focused local businesses.

“Instead of preparing companies to meet international requirements, they choose to bribe abroad, in what they perceive as an easier way.”

The first BPI was published by Transparency International in 1999. This year, a minimum of 100 people were surveyed in each country with the exception of China, where 82 interviews were conducted. (Ina Parlina, The Jakarta Post)