Transparency International Cambodia is set to step up its presence in the Kingdom with the launch of a $2.5 million three-year program to monitor and record corruption.

Transparency International ranks Cambodia 164 out of 183 countries on its most recent corruption perceptions index.

On a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean), Cambodia ranks 2.1, according to the organisation, and has been following a downward trend over the past few years.

“The three-year plan will come into effect to act in favour of transparency and legality as well as strengthening the understanding of the Cambodian people in their role in preventing and countering corruption,” TI Cambodia executive director Preap Kol said yesterday.

“We will send the compilation of our research results to the government, civil societies and political parties to put corruption into the agenda of discussion and especially to convince the relevant people that corruption is a social illness affecting the people and the entire society.”

Since its official launch in 2010, the Cambodian chapter of the organisation has been conspicuously absent from anti-corruption discussions and actions.

Om Yentieng, the director of Anti-Corruption Unit, couldn’t be reached, while deputy Keo Remy refused to comment on the three-year strategy launch.

Cambodia loses $500 million a year from the national budget to corruption and embezzlement, according to a 2008 USAID report.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Yuthana at [email protected]