Multi-Stakeholder Panel at 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference

On September 3, 2015, at Transparency International‘s 16th IACC in Malaysia, the Alliance for Integrity organized a panel on “Collective Action: Mission impossible or a way to a better future?” The aim of this panel discussion was to provide an evaluation of opportunities and limits of collective action initiatives. Among others, the following questions were addressed: Do collective action initiatives help stakeholders to overcome their narrow self-interest in favor of the common good? Is the claim that collective action initiatives are particularly inclusive and participatory valid? Or can powerful actors with well-organized political interests impose their narrow political priorities? How can we ensure the credibility of collective action initiatives?

Then panelists agreed that collective action is most successful when it is driven by actors with a common interest.

Collective action on business related corruption can take many different forms, reaching from integrity pacts to the development of risk management standards. Successful initiatives have shown us that both high level commitment of business leaders of the participating companies as well as a supportive environment set up by governments are crucial to reach the envisaged goals.

The panel was moderated by Noor Naqschbandi, head of the Alliance for Integrity. Speakers included Thomas Thomas, CEO, ASEAN CSR Network; Dr. Heiko Willems, Managing Director of Law and Insurance, Federation of German Industries; Gemma Aiolfi, Head of Compliance, Corporate Governance and Collective Action, Basel Institute On Governance; Dato’ Hafsah Hashim, CEO, Small and Medium Enterprise Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp. Malaysia) and Samuel Siahaan, Head of Compliance and Licences Department, PT. Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk.