THANK YOU ... Dompok receives a momento from Transparency International Malaysia president Tan Sri Ramon V Navaratnam as ASLI chief executive officer Dato' Dr Micheal Yeoh (left) and IIM president Dato' Dr Mohd Tap Salleh look on.

Malaysia Doesn't Deny Latest Transparency Corruption Index

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is not denying the latest Transparency International 2006 Corruption Perception Index which places the country at 44th placing compared to 38th in 2005, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

Malaysia is now on 44th placing among 163 countries surveyed by the Transparency International in its 2006 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), scoring five out of 10 points.

A score of 10 points denotes a clean economy while one point refers to a highly corrupt state.

"The position is not too bad. We are not in denial, there are certain obstacles that we need to face", he told reporters after officiating the World Ethics and Transparency Forum here Monday.

The two-day forum was jointly organized by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) and Transparency International Malaysia.

Without revealing what he meant by obstacles, Dompok said there were shortcomings that needed to be addressed.

"That is why we are supportive of a forum like this," he said referring to today's forum which was officiated by him.

The CPI also places Malaysia on 10th placing out of 25 economies in the Asia Pacific Region.

Dompok said even though there was a certain weakness in the study's methodology, he said Malaysia was working harder to improve its corruption perception index.

Dompok repeated the government's stand to act firmly without fear or favour against corrupt practices.

On the suggestion that the government reveals the contents of the agreement involving privatisation projects such as the highway projects in order to show transparency on the part of the government, Dompok said the matter had been brought up at the cabinet meeting.

-- BERNAMA