Transparency International Cambodia officially launched a nationwide promotional campaign for its “Anti-Corruption Card” yesterday, hoping to encourage people to report corruption by partnering up with businesses registered with the scheme.
After several years of promotion, some 7,500 people in Cambodia possess a card, while almost 100 businesses in Phnom Penh are partners, offering 3 to 50 per cent discounts to card holders, according to TI Cambodia.
Under the program, cardholders agree not to pay or seek bribes, along with reporting instances of corruption.
They also agree to work with other partners to fight against corruption and support those running for public office who “promote clean politics”.
“The launch of our new tool today, the Anti-Corruption Card, is an example of what individual citizens can do and how private companies and the business community can be engaged,” said Preap Kol, executive director of TI Cambodia.
“This is no ordinary card.”
The project, however, had not seen much success for at least one of its members.
Chat Sopheap, owner of Ratanakkiri Restaurant, said that TI Cambodia distributed cards at his restaurant a year ago, but he hasn’t seen any customers use them.
“I don’t think the card will be effective in fighting corruption,” Sopheap said, adding that customers were more interested in the discounts than combating corruption when the project was first introduced.
“When they [the customers] see the sticker, they think ‘when you hold this card you get some percentage of this discount.’”
Nevertheless, the organisation hopes to partner with more businesses across the Kingdom over the next five years, and says it has put in place a method to measure the project’s success.
According to Kol, TI Cambodia will examine the number of people who sign up, the number of reported instances of corruption, and will survey individuals to observe any changes in attitude over time.
TI Cambodia also has another project to increase reporting of corruption.
One year ago, it launching a Khmer-language version of the Bribespot app that enables users to report being asked for bribes online.
However, the Post reported last month that the app only logged 40 reports since its launch, despite a significant marketing campaign and success in other countries.
