Back in February 2013 I wrote a blog called “How bad is corruption in Turkey?” It noted that in the latest Transparency International Corruption Index, published in December 2012, Turkey had improved its ranking by 7 places to 54th place, putting it ahead of some EU countries.
In December 2013, Transparency International produced its latest Corruption Perceptions Index. This showed that Turkey had risen a further place to 53rd out of 175 countries. Again this is similar to many EU countries (Latvia, 49th, Croatia, 57th) and ahead of some neighbours (Syria, 168th). This is useful progress: ten years ago in 2004 Turkey was in 77th place. But I know many people in Turkey will aspire to a higher place than 53rd.
The authors of the Corruption Perceptions Index note that corruption is hard to measure objectively; but that the index is one of the best ways to compare how corruption is perceived in different countries. This matters because corruption is one of the factors of which international investors take account when deciding where to invest around the world.
So I was delighted to recently to announce the launch of a project supported by the UK, the Netherlands and Turkish Business Association TUSIAD and run by Transparency International Turkey, called “Multi-stakeholder Approach for ‘Transparency’ in Corporate Environment”.
The aim of the project is to encourage public-private co-operation in developing transparency in the corporate world. The idea is that if big companies operating in Turkey operate with maximum transparency and show their commitment to fighting corruption, this will be good for Turkish business and the Turkish economy and will encourage inward investment.
Why does the UK care about this? Because anything which strengthens the Turkish economy will help to deliver our goals of supporting a strong, successful, stable and democratic Turkey and making the world a safer and more prosperous place.
We look forward to seeing the outcome of the Transparency project; and hope that it can contribute to promoting investment in Turkey and strengthening Turkish growth.