Taiwan ranked 15th globally in a business bribery risk matrix published this month, topping all countries and territories in Asia while improving four places from its placing in the 2020 edition of the matrix.
In the 2021 Bribery Risk Matrix published by anti-bribery and compliance organization TRACE, Taiwan received a total average score of 17 to rank 15th overall and first in Asia. This was an improvement from the 2020 edition, where Taiwan scored 19 and ranked 19th.
According to the matrix, Taiwan’s 2021 placement means it is the least susceptible to business bribery among Asian countries and regions.
The matrix measures business bribery risk in 194 jurisdictions, territories, and autonomous and semi-autonomous regions.
The overall business bribery risk score for a country is a combined and weighted average that is calculated from four domains.
In the 2021 matrix, Taiwan scored an 18 in the domain of Business Interactions with Government, 23 in Anti-Bribery Deterrence and Enforcement, 13 in Government and Civil Service Transparency, and 14 in Capacity for Civil Society Oversight, giving it an average score of 17.
In Asia, Japan followed Taiwan in 18th place with a score of 19, directly followed by Singapore in 19th place with a score of 20. Meanwhile, China, which ranked 126th in 2020, fell nine places to 135th with a score of 56 in 2021.
Among the places surveyed, Denmark was first with a mere average of 2 in the TRACE business bribery risk matrix, followed by Norway with a score of 5, and Sweden with a score of 7.
With a score of 94, North Korea was in last place on the list at 194th.
North Korea was preceded by Turkmenistan in 193rd place with a score of 86, and Eritrea in 192nd place with a score of 81.
The business bribery risk matrix was first published in 2014 between TRACE and the RAND Corporation to provide investors with data to help analyze the risks of business bribery within the jurisdictions of their prospective investments.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel