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New Toolkit Available for Myanmar Businesses to Fight Corruption
A new toolkit to help businesses in Myanmar fight corruption has been launched in Yangon.
The ‘Good Governance Toolkit for Myanmar Businesses: A handbook for resisting corruption and working with integrity’was produced by Coffey, a consultancy company, with funding and support from the UK government’s Prosperity Fund.
MCRB staff collaborated with the Coffey team to provide advice and case studies, based on experience of working with Myanmar companies on corruption, including through the Transparency in Myanmar Enterprises/Pwint Thit Sa report and training on corruption.
Vicky Bowman spoke at the launch at the British Ambassador’s Residence together with senior officials from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) and Serge Pun Associates (SPA)/Yoma Strategic (which came top of the 2016 Pwint Thit Sa survey). Vicky highlighted the importance of companies communicating their activities internally and externally on fighting corruption, and engaging in collective action. The Pwint Thit Sa project ranks large Myanmar companies on how much information they provide on their website, inter alia on their business integrity programmes. Central to success was an internal discussion within companies of their anti-corruption risks, with frontline staff exposed to corruption involved and supported by senior staff in taking action.
Vicky drew attention to the useful practical examples in the guide of collection action on fighting corruption, such as the collaboration by Ngwesaung hoteliers to resist unreasonable demands by members of government for ‘free of charge’ (FOC) hospitality which can constitute a form of corruption, and ‘integrity pacts’ in other countries to improve the transparency of public procurement. She encouraged Myanmar civil society to step up action on corruption, for example by forming a local chapter of Transparency International, or making using of crowdsourcing ‘I Paid a Bribe’ style initiatives to identify corruption hotspots, such as transparencymyanmar.com.
The “Good Governance Toolkit” will help owners and managers of businesses in Myanmar reduce the risks that corruption can pose. It is designed to be used by many different types of businesses, but especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The toolkit explains why businesses should care about corruption, how they can improve their internal practices and how they can work together to fight corruption. It also discusses how government and civil society can help fight corruption and improve the environment for business.
