Focus group discussion on conflicts of interest in the public sector

Having different – partially opposed – interests, leads to situations of conflict. This applies not only to the private sector but also to the public sector. On 27 March 2019, stakeholders from the respective sectors as well as from the national task force on corruption prevention dealt with this subject in a focus group discussion (FDG) in Jakarta.

The discussion revolved around the questions how to identify conflicts of interest and how to manage them in public institutions. Applying the management of conflict of interest in well-established private companies to public institutions was a disputed issue.
In this context, Mrs Hasinah Jusuf, Director of Legal and Compliance at Allianz Life Indonesia – a member of the Alliance for Integrity´s Advisory Group – presented the implementation process of conflict of interest-regulations within her company.
Moreover, feedback was given on the ‘Conflict of Interest Guideline’ that has recently been published by Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

At the end of the event, all participant agreed upon the importance of management of conflict of interest. The Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education and the Government of the “Special Capital Region of Jakarta” were appointed as the responsible institutions for the pilot project that began in April 2019. KPK will assist those institutions to set up the regulation, develop the code of conduct, etc.

The event was organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Alliance for Integrity and the Research and Development Division of the KPK.The discussion was joined by the National Secretary of Corruption Prevention (Setnas PK), the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education (Kemenristekdikti), the Government of DKI Jakarta/ Pemerintah DKI Jakarta, the National Electricity Company/ Perusahaan Listrik Nasional (PLN), and Perum Perhutani.

Author: Faiza Hasan