he Seattle International Foundation (SIF) and the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS) of INCAE Business School held on October 23 a Conference on Corruption and Economic Development, kicking off the Central American Donors Forum CADF 2019.
Throughout the day, the causes and consequences of corruption on economic development and social progress were discussed and good practices in the public and private sectors that have achieved profound changes in the fight against corruption in the region were showcased.
Octavio Martínez, Director of CLACDS/INCAE, described the scourge of corruption in our countries and the negative impact it has on the capacity of the State to generate quality of life for its citizens. He also presented the main causes of the phenomenon and some general recommendations on how to attack it.
For Carmen Hilleprandt, President of CEJ Consulting, having a company with a culture of ethics and compliance are essential to be sustainable over time and continue generating value for shareholders and society, as well as having a compliance program that must have management commitment, risk assessment, internal controls, audits and training. Another way to mitigate risks is through prevention; and the primary tool is to have a code of ethics and conduct and a trained and committed staff, from the highest structures, added Hilleprandt.
Luis Cuenca, Professor at INCAE, defined corruption as a systemic problem that develops where institutions are not well designed and it is necessary to build an efficient and transparent State, in which much collaboration is required from the private sector; mainly in two ways: learning efficient management practices and support in the forensic study.
"Susan Clancy, Professor at INCAE, emphasized the importance of education in promoting anti-corruption initiatives in the region. She described the INCAE project to develop teaching cases on the subject, and led the audience in a discussion of one of the cases."
The event was attended by Arturo Aguilar, Executive Director, SIF; Enrique Bolaños, Rector of INCAE; Octavio Martínez, Director of CLACDS-INCAE; Luis Cuenca and Susan Clancy, Professors at INCAE; and Carmen Hilleprandt, President of CEJ Consulting and President of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce and Services.
For the second consecutive year, the Seattle International Foundation (SIF) is partnering with the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS) of INCAE Business School to promote spaces to address ethics and transparency in the Central American region. This same event will be held in El Salvador at the end of the year.
The Central American Donors Forum has become one of the main multi-sectoral spaces to promote learning, contacts and alliances in the region. Each year it brings together the international philanthropic community with hundreds of business, government and civil society leaders from Central America to generate proposals on how to promote development and create opportunities for more just, peaceful, equitable and prosperous societies.
For more information, please contact Mauren Esquivel at mauren.esquivel@incae.du.
