According to the latest competitiveness report of the World Economic Forum (WEF), corruption was absolutely not a concern for companies doing business in Hong Kong, a city with a deep-rooted culture of probity.

The WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 revealed that a very insignificant number (0.2 per cent) of respondents considered corruption the “most problematic factor” for doing business in Hong Kong.

Coupled with 15 other factors, the report rated Hong Kong as the seventh most competitive place amongst 140 economies polled. Nevertheless, one could empirically consider that Hong Kong offers a level playing field for business operators. They do not have to worry about having things done through the backdoor or paying under the table.

ICAC Commissioner Mr Simon Peh Yun-lu elaborated on the reasons behind when he addressed the Opening Ceremony of the Eighth Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) in St. Petersburg, Russia in November.

Twin-pillar anti-corruption strategy

Mr Peh said to combat corruption, the city needed more than law enforcement. Over the years, Hong Kong had also adopted a twin-pillar strategy of probity culture building and systemic prevention to control corruption risks.

“Probity culture building and systemic prevention are the two essential components of ICAC’s anti-corruption approach form the outset 41 years ago,” Mr Peh said.

“Under the twin-pillar strategy, the ICAC adopted an ‘Ethics for All’ approach to explain the anti-bribery law to different strata of the society and cultivate in every citizen the inner conviction that corruption was totally unacceptable.”

Preventive education

Taking the business field as an example, Mr Peh said the ICAC pioneered in promoting corporate governance by setting up the Hong Kong Ethics Development Centre (now known as the Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre) 20 years ago, currently with 10 major chambers of commerce forming an advisory committee to steer its work.

Through networks set up with 70 chambers of small and medium enterprises and 80 banks, corruption prevention messages were effectively promoted to the wider business community.

This year, the ICAC has launched a three-year programme promoting business ethics in listed companies. Among the initiatives is a toolkit to help directors minimise corruption risks in their companies.

Corruption prevention

On the preventive front, Mr Peh said the ICAC helped plug procedural loopholes in public organisations and offered systemic prevention advice to them to ensure that their systems and procedures were fair, accountable, simple and transparent.

Since its inception, the ICAC has completed 3,700 corruption prevention studies for the public and private sectors, offering over 12,000 consultancy activities in the past 15 years.

With a core value of probity embedded in the mind of Hong Kong people, corruption poses no threat to doing business. Last year, the ICAC annual survey conducted by an independent pollster confirmed that people continued to uphold a zero-tolerance attitude towards corruption.

While Hong Kong is highly praised for its anti-corruption model at the international conference, Mr Peh, however, expounded the paradox the city faces.

Mr Peh said despite the reality points otherwise, the success of detecting graft cases involving senior government officials or business tycoons might generate a public perception that the corruption scene has deteriorated.

“Such cases are testament to Hong Kong’s robust anti-corruption system as the ICAC will carry out all investigations independently and impartially, regardless of the background, status and position of the persons involved,” he said.

“Those cases are only isolated incidents and Hong Kong’s civil service remains clean and efficient.”

Through the twin-pillar strategy of culture building and systemic prevention, Hong Kong will continue to live up to its reputation as one of the cleanest places for companies to do business.