Singapore is the fourth-least corrupt country in the world and is the least corrupt in Asia.
Group CEO Wong Heang Fine was recently invited by Singapore’s Corrupt Practices & Investigation Bureau to share insights on how Surbana Jurong fights corruption in its operations across 40 countries.
The knowledge-sharing event was organized in conjunction with the release of the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index in which Singapore emerged top in a survey of 180 countries.
Mr. Wong said the Singapore business community takes the fight against graft very seriously. He shared, Surbana Jurong is the first large enterprise in Singapore to attain ISO 37001 certification, for meeting globally recognized anti-bribery good practices. In line with 37001, he said, Surbana Jurong’s colleagues abide by a strict “no gifts” policy and adhere to business conduct guidelines that help us uphold honesty and integrity in all our business dealings.
Built environment projects usually involve multiple disciplines and individuals and there are numerous contractual relationships that make control measures more challenging to implement, Heang Fine said.
“Procurement, licenses, permits, and approvals are required at various stages of the delivery cycle, each one potentially becoming an opportunity for corruption,” he added. “Surbana Jurong operates in over 40 countries, making it all the more important for us to maintain robust procedures in procurement and internal audit consistently across all our operations.”
