OPENING STATEMENT

BY
DAVID NUSSBAUM
Chief Executive, Transparency International

Corruption Perceptions Index Press Conference
18 October 2005

Looking at the results of the index by region, it is interesting to note that no region does truly well on average. Even in the extended European Union, the average score is only a passable 6.7, indicating that many of its countries are still wrestling with a sizeable corruption problem. Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia bring up the rear with an average score of 2.7, indicating devastating levels of perceived corruption which pose a serious threat to political and social stability, as well as compromising the everyday lives of the people in those countries.

A poor score should not be used as grounds for penalising a country or denying support for its people’s development. Rather it is a sign that its structural health is failing and needs urgent attention, be it from the domestic government, business community or civil society or from the donor community.

No country on the index has a perfect score of ten. Corruption is not a natural disaster: it is the cold, calculated theft of opportunity from the men, women and children around the world who are least able to protect themselves. It must be taken seriously. The Corruption Perceptions Index helps make this clear.