Trace International recently released its Trace Bribery Risk Matrix where it ranks 194 countries around the world in terms of bribery risk. In details, the matrix aims at informing companies that are willing to conduct international business of the possibility of being asked to pay a bribe by a government official. The total risk score represents the weighted average of four major domains namely “interactions with the government” (40% risk weight), “anti-bribery deterrence” (15% risk weight), “governmental and civil service transparency” (22.5% risk weight) and “capacity for civil oversight” (22.5% risk weight).

Norway ranked first in the world with a risk score of 4, followed by New Zealand (risk score of 8), Sweden (risk score of 9), Switzerland (risk score of 10) and Denmark (risk score of 11) only to name a few.

Jordan came in first in the region and 65^th globally with a risk score of 43, followed by Tunisia (76^th globally with a score of 45), and Kuwait (111^th globally with a score of 53). On the other end, Bahrain ranked 169^th globally with a high risk score of 70, followed by Libya (180^th globally with a score of 76) and Syria (191^st globally with a score of 88).

Locally, Lebanon positioned 5^th regionally and 130^th globally with a score of 58. In details, Lebanon was assigned a score of 57 in terms of interactions with government given the medium regulatory burden and high expectation of bribes. It also scored 79 in anti-bribery deterrence on the back of the low quality of anti-bribery enforcement and 68 in governmental and civil service transparency as governmental transparency was deemed poor according to Trace International. Similarly, Lebanon was assigned a score of 36 in capacity for civil oversight as media freedom/quality and civil society engagement were viewed as medium by Trace International.