As British Prime Minister David Cameron plays host to a major international anti-corruption summit in London today, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has outlined two anti-corruption priorities it hopes to be addressed at the event.
Applauding the UK government for convening the landmark gathering of governments, business and civil society, ICC Secretary General John Danilovich said he looked forward to clear and positive outcomes from this week’s summit, affirming that global business stood shoulder-to-shoulder with all governments to combat corruption.
As a pioneer in the business fight against corruption ICC underscores the importance of strengthening anti-corruption capacity-building as a first priority to eliminating the scourge, particularly within the small business sector.
Mr Danilovich said: “This should include giving greater support and emphasis to existing self-regulatory codes such as those developed by ICC, Transparency International and the World Economic Forum.”
Linked to this, Mr Danilovich also called for a push to support anti-corruption compliance training and signalled a role for the recently launched ICC Academy to support these efforts.
A second priority identified by ICC is the scaling up of enforcement efforts under existing anti-corruption frameworks, instead of creating additional institutional structures or processes.
“A central point of focus in this regard should be the implementation of the UN Convention on anti-corruption, through improved monitoring and peer review processes,” said Mr Danilovich. “The UN Convention must be at the centre of the international community’s efforts to combat corruption and global business stands ready to support all efforts to strengthen its enforcement.”
In line with its mission to promote global growth, job creation and development ICC, the world business organization, has long been a driving force in combatting corruption, a blight that threatens the integrity of markets, undermines fair competition, destroys public trust and undermines the rule of law.