NZ in Top 3 Clean in Corruption Countries

New Zealand has been declared the third cleanest country by the Transparency International. NZ has been ranked as 3rd cleanest country in terms of corruption.

The Corruption Perceptions Index 2000 rated 90 countries on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean), as perceived by business people, risk analysts and the general public in a number of independent surveys.

The CPI, first launched in 1995, was compiled by Transparency International, a German based organisation with national chapters in sixty countries which lobbies and works against corruption.

New Zealand scored 9.4, equal with Sweden.

The top 10 cleanest countries are:

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. New Zealand
4. Sweden
5. Canada
6. Iceland
7. Norway
8. Singapore
9. Netherlands
10.United Kingdom

Australia came in 13th position, and the United States has 14th position.

The lowest ranking countries included Nigeria, Yugoslavia and Ukraine, those who had a score of less than two on the scale.

This year's CPI covers 90 countries, compared to 99 last year. Some countries had to be dropped because there was insufficient 1998-2000 data. For example, some of the surveys used in the CPI are based on international investor attitudes and if a country is widely seen to no longer interest investors, then some survey sources may drop that country in their polling. The message is clear: dropping out of the CPI for lack of data may be bad news for countries and may indicate reduced investor interest stimulated by enhanced perceptions of widespread corruption in these countries.

"Corruption takes many forms and is a universal cancer," said Peter Eigen, Chairman of Transparency International (TI), the world's leading anti-corruption organization. He stressed that: "Our new index again shows that corruption is widely seen to be very high in many countries. On the eve of the Olympic Games, too, it is worth recalling the bribery scandal that enmeshed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the fact that some of the leaders of the bribe-scarred IOC are still running the show."

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Rohit Kumar 'Happy'
Editor, Bharat-Darshan, New Zealand
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