WEF launches PACI Vanguard to combat business corruption

A group of world’s top business leaders — named the PACI Vanguard — was formed on Thursday in the World Economic Forum to act as “the premier global business voice advocating for a more robust anti-corruption agenda,” according to a press statement by the WEF.

The group of 20 CEOs is said to build on the more than 100 leading companies that are PACI members and have signed on to the PACI Principles for Countering Corruption.

The PACI Vanguard will seek to establish a legal framework that can address corruption consistently and lead to more effective enforcement.

Vanguard CEOs will work with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to ensure the implementation of the OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery with G20 countries and others.

In addition, the Forum’s wider PACI community has developed newPACI Principles for Countering Corruption based on a zero tolerance policy towards corruption.

At the launch of the Vanguard, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said: “We need a global legal framework and an effective enforcement mechanism to win the fight against corruption.

It is exciting that the OECD and the PACI Vanguard community of CEOs will work together to expand the adoption of the OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery.

This is the kind of partnership between business and government that can achieve real impact and level the playing field in some of the most important growth markets in the world.”

“Corruption is a massive obstacle for inclusive growth, competitiveness and social upward mobility. It is also a major business risk for CEOs and their companies around the world.

We need strong partnerships across industries and with governments and civil society to create a level playing field for all and to design corruption out of the system,” added Elaine K. Dezenski, Senior Director and Head of PACI at the World Economic Forum.

As a first step towards collective action, business leaders from the aviation and travel industry have pledged to a mutually developed agenda to fight corruption.

Their aim is to establish industry practices that are open, accountable and responsible at the global and regional level, according to the WEF statement.

This year-long project conducted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Deloitte, focused on the corruption challenges faced in the value chains of the aviation and travel sector.

Its findings were presented in a new report: Safeguarding Aviation and Travel Value Chains Against Corruption.

Among the priorities for the industry in addressing corruption concerns are facilitation payments and customs and border administration for aviation, real estate and hotel licensing processes, and aerospace government procurement processes.

“The industry can set a firm stance on keeping any form of corruption and misconduct out of the system and use its competences to influence the global value chains and other stakeholders to embrace this fundamental principle,” said Frederico Curado, President and Chief Executive Officer, Embraer and Co-Chair of the Safeguarding Aviation and Travel Value Chains Against Corruption project.

The project is believed to be a first of its kind, demonstrating how traditional competitors of an industry can come together on the key issue of corporate citizenship and social responsibility, and positively influencing the practices of billion-dollar businesses and having market-shifting impact.

Building on the outcomes of the project, PACI is expected to launch a series of similar industry-focused, anti-corruption collective action projects in the ICT, infrastructure and real estate industries.