Business steps up anti-corruption efforts

At the unique gathering of over 50 business representatives, proponents from ICC’s Anti-Corruption Commission, the United Nations Global Compact, the World Economic Forum Partnering against Corruption Initiative (PACI) and Transparency International (TI) took part in discussions to consolidate business action against corruption.

The session took place at ICC headquarters in Paris and saw business representation from a wide range of sectors, from countries including South Africa, Mexico, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Nigeria and France.

“This unique collaboration demonstrates a clear determination by business to work collectively against corruption and to develop means to prevent and control bribery at company level,” said François Vincke, Chair of the ICC Commission on Anti-Corruption who hosted the meeting.

ICC has been concerned about the effects of corruption on international trade for more than 25 years and, at the end of 2005, formed a key coalition with the Global Compact, PACI and TI to coordinate business efforts to fight bribery and corruption.

At the meeting in Paris, representatives of the four groups agreed to collaborate on a number of initiatives, including alerting the World Bank Group on the need to promote integrity in procurement practices, and the creation of a toolkit to help business managers address real-life dilemmas in connection to corruption. The toolkit will be based on field-example scenarios and will include detailed guidance on how to react when confronted with undue solicitations for bribe payments and other spurious advantages.

The toolkit is due to be launched at the end of the year and will be disseminated by the four groups to their respective members.