“Organizations that implement ethical practices improve their productivity, drastically reducing the risks of bribery, blackmail, conflicts of interest and fines.”

An article by Felipe Coronel, partner at Latin Lex Consulting, which was published in the Journal Enlace Empresarial of the Chamber of Commerce of Panama, highlighted the responsibility of the business sector in the fight against corruption, concepts which can be extrapolated to the entire region, beyond each country’s position in international corruption indices.

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The responsibility of the business sector in the fight against corruption

According to statistics that are presented annually by the Non Governmental Organization (NGO) Transparency International Organization, Panama occupies, along with Colombia, position 94 in the index of Perception of Corruption (IPC) in a sample covering 175 countries. 2015 is expected to be a conical year in the fight against corruption and in this sense, some questions arise:

1. Economic Growth Growth Vs. corruption. It remains remarkable that Panama is on the podium as one of the fastest growing countries in the region. However, in issues related to combating corruption, ahead of it are Peru (85), El Salvador (80). Brazil (69), Cuba (63). Costa Rica (47). Chile and Uruguay (21). In 2010, the country ranked 73, losing falling 29 places in 2013 (102). What is the social cost of this growth? Is this growth and sustainable “socially” responsible? What would be the impact on the population if corruption indices fell drastically?