Albania, the most corrupted in the region, TI says

TIRANA, Sep. 26 – Transparency International issued Wednesday the 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index in which Albania was ranked 105 together with five other countries but considered as the most corrupted one in the region, far behind Macedonia ranked about 20 posts higher.
Albania was ranked 105 together with Argentina, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Djibouti and Egypt with a 2.9 CPI which is 0.3 points better than last year.
The divide in perceived levels of corruption in rich and poor countries remains as sharp as ever, the report said. Developed and developing countries must share responsibility for reducing corruption, in tackling both the supply and demand sides.
“Despite some gains, corruption remains an enormous drain on resources sorely needed for education, health and infrastructure,” said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency
International. “Low scoring countries need to take these results seriously and act now to strengthen accountability in public institutions. But action from top scoring countries is just as important, particularly in cracking down on corrupt activity in the private sector.”
TI Albania suggested that Albania should complete an anti-corruption strategy, support president’s initiative especially that in the judiciary, deepen transparency in and improve work of the public administration, increase punishing acts against corruption in the administration and widen its fight especially on property ownership. It said that reforms should be accompanied with the human changes, that is, change corrupted persons with new ones.