Siemens donates $1 M to fight Phl corruption

WASHINGTON – Siemens AG announced it will give the Makati Business Club (MBC) $1 million over a four-year period for its Shine project, which seeks to ensure transparency and integrity in local and foreign business transactions.

The money is part of a first tranche of $40 million that Siemens will distribute to non-profit organizations and projects in over 20 countries that promote business integrity and fight corruption.

Siemens set up a $100-million fund in July 2009 as part of a comprehensive settlement it concluded with the World Bank following an investigation by the bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency and the company’s acknowledgement of past misconduct in its global business.

Siemens made its announcement on Thursday as some 240 government officials and business leaders from 134 countries were concluding a meeting in Washington of the International Corruption Hunters Alliance organized by the World Bank in its efforts to deter corruption in projects it finances.

The $100-million Siemens Integrity Initiative will support organizations and projects over a 15-year period that fight corruption and fraud through collective action, education and training.

Aside from the Philippines, the first tranche will also finance projects in Angola, Brazil, China, Egypt, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, the Slovak Republic, South Africa, the Czech Republic, the United States, Vietnam and various Middle East nations, a Siemens statement on its website said.

Further funding agreements as part of the World Bank-Siemens Initiative will be announced in 2011.

Funding for the Makati Business Club in cooperation with the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines is for its Shine project.

Specific objectives of the project include identifying key concerns of the private sector which affect integrity and transparency in business transactions; developing a unified business code of conduct as a standard for local or foreign business entities; and creating an “industry integrity-pact” that provides control measures to ensure transparency and integrity in business transactions.

Siemens, in a press statement on its website, said the initial tranche of $40 million will be distributed to more than 30 initiatives from over 20 countries that have been selected. Around 300 nonprofit organizations from 66 countries had applied for funding during the first round.

“We welcome the company’s initiative and clear commitment to the principle that only clean business is good, sustainable business,” said Leonard McCarthy, Integrity Vice President of the World Bank Group.

“Corruption steals from the poor, and it can only be tackled on a joint basis. The projects of the Siemens Integrity Initiative will help strengthen the will to combat corruption worldwide and improve conditions for everyone.”