World leaders have recognised that corruption is a key obstacle to progress, prosperity and sustainability. Corruption not only adds up to the cost of doing business but also distorts market mechanisms, prevents fair competition and deters investments, thus stifling growth and future business opportunities and erodes public investor trust and confidence. (For more details about the costs of corruption to business, please click here)

It also exposes companies to legal risks because of the extra-terrestrial jurisdiction of fair business practice legislations such as the UK Foreign Corrupt Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

With ASEAN hoping to capitalise on the opportunities presented by regional integration post-2015, it is indeed important for all stakeholders to meet numerous challenges immediately, especially in curbing corruption.

While there are good examples of ASEAN business organisations harnessing the power of collective action to curb corruption, what has resulted are the varying standards used.

What has ASEAN CSR Network (ACN) been doing with regards to business integrity?

It started in Bali in February 2015 when the Regional Working Group on Business Integrity in ASEAN identified harmonisation of business integrity strategies and programmes as one of its three priority action items, in addition to advocacy and awareness-raising, and capacity-building.

Soon after the Bali meeting, a Framework for Collective Action was developed and adopted by the Regional Working Group during the Strategic Planning Meeting in Bangkok in March 2015, to provide a foundation for business-led collective action against corruption.

As a follow-up to the two meetings, ACN organised a consultation and training workshop called the “Harmonisation of business integrity standards and programmes in ASEAN” in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 27 October 2015 in conjunction with the ASEAN Responsible Business Forum (27 – 29 October 2015).

The objective was to provide a multi-stakeholder consultation to overcome the challenges of collective action against corruption and explore the possibility of harmonising standards in the ASEAN business community. The Workshop was organised by ACN and the Regional Working Group in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It was supported by the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office (UK FCO) through its Prosperity Fund.

The Workshop attracted around 70 participants representing the Regional Working Group, the private sector, governments of ASEAN member states, South-East Asian Parties Against Corruption (SEA-PAC), international agencies such as UN Global Compact, UNODC, UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), and civil society groups including Transparency International, among others.

Some of the highlights of the discussion included:

• the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation in tackling corruption;
• strong national legal frameworks need to be developed by ASEAN governments in line with relevant international principles and frameworks;
• businesses have a vital role to play in putting in place their own prevention mechanisms;
• the role of civil society organisations, local community and the media as watchdogs and strategic partners;
• promoting a culture of integrity, ethics and transparency in doing business in ASEAN;
• ASEAN stakeholders should prioritise the harmonisation of integrity standards and programmes; 
• initiatives such as the upcoming ISO37001: Anti-Bribery Management System Standard are expected to help stimulate this process;
• the Regional Working Group on Business Integrity seres as a facilitator for the harmonisation of business integrity standards and programme in ASEAN; 
• ASEAN trend towards criminal liability for corruption offences; and
• designing and implementing an effective anti-corruption / ethics compliance programme

A full report of the workshop highlights will be published soon. Do watch this space for more updates.