ANTI CORRUPTION INITIATIVES
Thailand’s Private Sector Collective Action Coalition against Corruption (CAC)
Thailand’s Private Sector Collective Action against Corruption (CAC) is an initiative by the Thai private sector to take parts in tackling corruption problem via collective action. The CAC aims to bring effective anti-corruption policy and mechanism into implementation by companies in order to create an ecosystem of clean business community.
The CAC was co-founded by the country’s eight leading organisations in the private sector including the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand, the Thai Listed Companies Association, the Federation of Thai Industries, the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organizations, the Thai Bankers’ Association, the Tourism Council of Thailand, and the Thai Institute of Directors Association (IOD), which also serves as its secretariat and takes a leading role in driving the program. The CAC’s operations are sponsored by U.S-based Center for Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the U.K. Prosperity Fund.
To ensure that companies actually set up clean policies and practices, the CAC requires signatory companies put in place anti-corruption policies and compliance standards by completing a self-evaluation tool that comprise of a 71 checklist and get verified by external parties before applying for certification from the CAC within 18 months.
This certification process is considerably more advanced than regional peers and many countries have expressed keen interest to study the process and replicate the concept with anti-corruption initiatives in the respective countries.
At present, 914 companies have voluntarily joined the CAC, about half of which are listed companies. Of the total, 325 are certified members.
Earlier this year, the CAC introduced a new certification program for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), requiring them to comply with a more simplified 17 checklist against 71 required for large companies.
The CAC works closely with the government’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Anti-Corruption Organization (Thailand), which handles the civil society front. Moreover, the CAC also exchanges anti-corruption knowledge and experiences with international agencies regularly. It has recently joined the B20 Collective Action Hub and the ASEAN CSR Network.