Privatization increases corruption / Thailand Microsoft probe / Myanmar forestry sector

Privatization Increases Corruption (Opinion).  “Statistical analysis of International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionalities on 141 developing countries from 1982 to 2014 has found that requiring privatization of SOEs has undermined anti-corruption efforts.”

Jomo Kwame Sundaram/Inter Press Service: http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/privatization-increases-corruption/

 

Probe looms in Microsoft case.  The Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand’s secretary-general, Mana Nimitmongkol, urges the National Anti-Corruption Commission to act, in response to reports that Microsoft agreed to pay about US$16.6 million (about 512 million baht) to settle a charge brought against it by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over kickbacks to government officials paid out by its executives in Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Turkey.

Kornchanok Raksaseri/Bangkok Post: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1718255/probe-looms-in-microsoft-case

 

EITI applied in forestry sector for the first time.  Myanmar’s forestry sector was included in the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (MEITI) report for the first time this year. Myanmar is the second country to have its forestry sector included in the EITI.

Myat Moe Aung/Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/eiti-applied-forestry-sector-first-time.html