By Mirette Magdy

CAIRO, Dec 3 (Aswat Masriya) – Ranked the 94^th least corrupt country out of 175, Egypt’s integrity score improved by five points in 2014, according to Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

The index, released annually by Transparency International to track corruption levels worldwide, reported that Egypt’s integrity level scored 37 out of 100 this year, as opposed to 32 last year.

EGYPT'S CORRUPTION LEVEL

The organisation said that Egypt "achieved one of the highest levels of improvement in its fight against corruption this year." The country’s integrity score nevertheless remains lower than the global rate; 43 out of 100, and the Middle East and North Africa region’s rate; 38 out of 100.

The CPI only measures the transparency level in the state’s public sector; it does not comprehensively reflect the state’s integrity, said Lamia Kalawy, Transparency International’s coordinator for the MENA region.

According to Ernst and Young’s 13 Global Fraud Survey, Egypt recorded the highest level of fraud among private businesses. Forty-four percent of interviewed executives in Egypt reported that their companies have experienced a significant fraud in the past two years.

Kalawy told Aswat Masriya that Egypt remains "in need of hard and serious work."

"Legislations which address fighting corruption in Egypt still need to be reconsidered," Kalawy said, describing such legislations as "deficient" and "incompatible" with international agreements signed by Egypt.

The Transparency International official also referred to the role of civil society organisations in fighting corruption.

"The role of civil society organisations in contributing to the fight against corruption is unaccounted for," she said.

NATIONAL STRATEGY TO FIGHT CORRUPTION

Kalawy questioned the seriousness of a "national strategy to fight corruption" in Egypt, announced by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb last week.

"This announcement raises a lot of question marks, as national strategies are time-consuming and require the participation of all concerned ministries and civil society organisations," Kalawy said. "The absence of transparency during the preparation of such a strategy also raises questions regarding it."

The strategy is due to be announced on December 9, to coincide with the International Anti-Corruption Day.

During the launch of military-supervised projects on Wednesday, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that Egypt has a long way to go in its fight against corruption.

"We have not yet been able to fully eradicate corruption," the president said in press statements, adding that Egypt remains in need of "true will and effort."

The Egyptian government announced last month the establishment of a national committee to fight terrorism. It also established a sub-committee to set and implement policies which would prevent and fight terrorism.

Kalawy criticised the vagueness which surrounds "the formation of the committee … or its action plan."

"After the January 2011 revolution, Egypt had an opportunity to fight terrorism. Yet, unfortunately this did not happen," Kalawy said.

According to the CPI, the United Arab Emirates is the Arab world’s least corrupt country (score: 70), closely followed by Qatar (score: 69).

Turkey, China and Angola witnessed the highest rise in corruption levels. China’s integrity score decreased to 36, from 40 last year.

The world’s least corrupt country, according to the 2014 CPI, is Denmark, whose integrity score this year is 92. North Korea and Somalia meanwhile are the world’s most corrupt countries, with an integrity score of 8 each.

(Writing by Rana Muhammad Taha)