Albania improves in corruption list, but still low

TIRANA, Sep 23 – Transparency International’s (TI) 2008 Corruption Perceptions
Index (CPI), launched Tuesday showed Albania had significantly improved its position compared to the last year, from the 126th to 85th, the same ranking with Serbia and Montenegro.
TI said that persistently high corruption in low-income countries amounts to an “ongoing humanitarian disaster.” Against a backdrop of continued corporate scandal, wealthy countries backsliding too.
The report highlighted the fatal link between poverty, failed institutions and graft. But other notable backsliders in the 2008 CPI indicate that the strength of oversight mechanisms is also at risk among the wealthiest.
The 2008 Results The Transparency International CPI measures the perceived levels of public-sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on different expert and business surveys. The 2008 CPI scores 180 countries (the same number as the 2007 CPI) on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to ten (highly clean).
Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden share the highest score at 9.3, followed immediately by Singapore at 9.2. Bringing up the rear is Somalia at 1.0, slightly trailing Iraq and Myanmar at 1.3 and Haiti at 1.4.
Statistically significant improvements over the last year can be identified in Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey, according to Transparency International.
According to TI’s 2008 Global Corruption Report, unchecked levels of corruption would add US $50 billion – or nearly half of annual global aid outlays – to the cost of achieving the MDG on water and sanitation.
Across the globe, stronger institutions of oversight, firm legal frameworks and more vigilant regulation will ensure lower levels of corruption, allowing more meaningful participation for all people in their societies, stronger development outcomes and a better quality of life for marginalized communities.
With the same caveats applied, and based on data from sources that have been consistently used for the index, improvements can be observed from 2007 to 2008 for Albania, Bahrain, Benin, Cyprus, Dominica, Georgia, Indonesia, Jordan, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey.
Seven countries in South Eastern Europe and 13 Post-Soviet Countries register scores below 5 (out of a possible 10) indicating that most face serious perceived levels of domestic corruption.
Despite extensive reforms and external incentives in the framework of the European Union pre-accession process, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are not perceived as having significantly improved their anti-corruption stance.
Apart from Turkey and Albania, the impact of the fight against corruption has been little despite actions undertaken to tackle the problem and promises by heads of state to make anti-corruption a core element of reforms in the run-up to EU membership.
The only two countries in South Eastern Europe currently witnessing a significant reduction in their perceived levels of corruption and showing signs of initial change are Albania, a potential EU candidate country, and Turkey, an EU candidate country. However, the EU accession process cannot yet be deemed a sustainable remedy.
In Albania on the other hand, where the CPI score rose from 2.9 in 2007 to 3.4 in 2008, the current government has been vocal about anti-corruption reforms it has championed over the past years and which appear to be showing initial results.
An official task force created to fight corruption and economic crime has increased the number of officials prosecuted and sentenced for corruption, also building confidence among the public that corruption can be punished in Albania.
In 2007, 224 officials were identified as involved in corruption and power abuse, 53 of them were arrested and prosecuted.
A systemic approach was also taken in reducing corruption in tax administration, procurement and services to business, leading to a modernization of such services.
The implementation of electronic systems for taxes, procurement and business licenses reduced opportunities for extortion.