‘Setting up integrity unit will boost public governance ranking’
KOTA KINABALU: The government’s efforts to address issues on governance in the public sector will improve the international ranking of the country.
Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG) president Datuk Yusli Mohamad Yusoff said the government had planned to introduce new measures to improve public governance.
“It is a good step when Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) announced last week to set up an (integrity and) governance unit.
“He (Najib) also spoke about weaknesses in companies like 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB),” he said after launching a one-day conference on “Governance Culture in Your Organisation” here yesterday.
Yusli said the government would adopt new measures once its agencies conducted a review of their practices.
He said Malaysia used to be ranked fourth or fifth on the international level, but slipped to sixth place in the Asian Corporate Governance Association 2016 report.
“The report pointed out many good fronts, including regulators introducing more laws, but Malaysian (governance) standards seem to be falling due to the public’s perception of the 1MDB issue.
“Another perception (by Transparency International on Malaysia’s 2017 Global Corruption Barometer) is that corruption is an issue in the country.”
Yusli said MIGC would reach out to more companies to create awareness about good governance.
On the conference, he said MICG had introduce topics to be addressed by experts, who would share the best practices in governance and showcase new developments.
MICG is developing a certification course for governance practitioners, educating students in universities, and offering advice and solutions to companies.
A research project by the institute titled “Transparency in Corporate Reporting for the top 100 Public Listed Companies in Malaysia” was expected to be released next Tuesday.
MICG was established in 1998 and incorporated as a company limited by guarantee, with founding members consisting of the Federation of Public Listed Companies, Malaysian Institute of Accountants, Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Malaysian Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrations and Malaysian Institute of Directors. By Olivia Miwil