Improvements in transparency and accountability within the $2bn expansion of Bangkok’s International Suvarnabhumi Airport mark a turning point for Thailand, as the country announces today that it has joined CoST - the global transparency and accountability initiative that aims to stamp out corruption and mismanagement in public infrastructure.
Bechtel has become the latest major international contractor to offer its support for CoST. Nancy Higgins, Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Bechtel Corporation said: “As one of the most respected engineering, construction, and project management companies in the world, Bechtel is uncompromising in our integrity, honesty, and fairness everywhere we operate. Our industry benefits
The CoST Interim Board has announced that it will remain in place until resources are available to organise a broad-based democratic process involving all participating countries. This comes after consultation with Multi-Stakeholder Groups in each CoST country. Following the launch of the CoST Global Programme in 2012, it had been anticipated that a Delegate Assembly
CoST Chair Chrik Poortman, recently took part in a Panel discussion at the Fourth OECD G20 High Level Conference on Corruption on ‘Sweeteners in international Contracts: are ‘offsets’ the new corruption threat? Many countries that purchase foreign-source equipment (such as defence, transportation and power generation) require sellers to commit to an "offset" agreement. As a condition of
CoST aims to scale-up to 22 countries by December 2016. This growth is a key objective of CoST’s recently published Business Plan. The Business Plan aims to establish 14 new national programmes over the next 3 years as well as strengthening the technical capacity and increasing the effectiveness of the 8 former pilot countries. Since the
The Philippine Government’s Electronic Procurement System PhilGeps is close to achieving financial sustainability. This important milestone formed part of the PhilGeps Business Plan that was developed in collaboration with the CoST Philippines Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG). Officials at PhilGeps report that the system currently has more than 18,000 fee paying registered users. Revenue from fees was