Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s rank in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) remains unchanged at 57th place, the same as in 2023, according to Transparency International (TI) Malaysia. Its president, Dr. Muhammad Mohan, highlighted this during a presentation on Malaysia’s position in the index, noting that the country’s score also remained the same as last year at 50 points.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, among ASEAN countries, Malaysia ranked second-best after Singapore, which scored 84 points. Other ASEAN countries such as Vietnam scored 40 points, Indonesia 37, Thailand 34, Philippines 33, Laos 33, Cambodia 21, and Myanmar 16 points. The CPI evaluates the perceived level of corruption in the public sectors of 180 countries and territories worldwide, based on 13 surveys and expert assessments.
This year, Denmark, Finland, and Singapore are considered the ‘clean countries’ at the top of the index, whereas Venezuela, Somalia, and South Sudan are positioned at the bottom. Dr. Muhammad praised several positive developments by the Malaysian government last year to combat corruption, including the appointment of the new Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, who is spearheading the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) and aims to improve Malaysia’s CPI ranking to the top 25 by 2033.
Other significant initiatives included the passing of the Audit (Amendment) Act 1957 (Act 62) in Parliament in July 2024, amendments to the Trustee Act to prevent malpractices by trust entities, and revisions to the Companies Act to enforce mandatory disclosure of Beneficial Ownership Transparency, with plans for a public registry for increased transparency. However, Dr. Muhammad also pointed out four possible reasons for Malaysia’s stagnant score, with one being the persistent perception of corruption in the public sector among businesses.
He emphasized that achieving the 25th position in the CPI by 2033, as targeted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, requires the efforts and commitment of all parties involved. “To be there, we need to score 68-70 points, which means every year we must improve our score by at least 2 points,” he stated.
Meanwhile, National Governance Planning Division (BPGN) senior director Datuk Idris Zaharudin, who was also present at the presentation, announced that the results of this analysis will be presented to the CPI Special Task Force established last year. “We will analyze the issues announced today before bringing them to the CPI special task force chaired by the KSN and issue a statement thereafter,” he said.