Barbados is being ranked the least corrupt CARICOM country by Transparency International, which should result in the Caribbean territory being a more attractive option for overseas investors.
This is the view of John Beale, Barbados’ Ambassador to the United States and Organization of American States (OAS) in a response to a report recently released by Transparency International
He said the highly-ranked position should help tremendously in terms of attracting foreign investment.
“It is important to have a good ranking if you want to attract foreign investment because that is a serious consideration for people who are trying to avoid countries that are known for tremendous amounts of corruption,” Beale said.
Barbados was ranked first in the Caribbean and 15th in the world with a score of 76 out of 100- a better score than many developed countries, including Belgium, Japan, Britain and the United States.
Transparency International recently released a report on perceived levels of corruption in more than 175 countries’ public service.
The Bahamas, which was ranked 22nd in the report is also perceived as a notably transparent country. The country scored 71.
The Bahamas was ranked third in the region and 21st in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) last year.
The report was released by Transparency International, which is a “global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption”.
The CPI measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in countries worldwide. Based on expert opinion, countries are scored from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Some countries score well, but no country scores a perfect l00.
Two-thirds of the 176 countries in the 2012 index scored below 50, showing that public institutions need to be more transparent and powerful officials more accountable, Transparency International said.
“But recognizing the problem is only the first step towards a solution. That is why we help citizens to demand accountability from their leaders,” the report said.
Denmark, Finland and New Zealand ranked as the most transparent countries on the list and Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia as the least transparent.
