Institutional Reforms, High-Impact Communication Drive CPI 2025 Improvement - KSN

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's improvement in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranking for 2025 is not only the result of policy implementation and institutional reforms, but also driven by a consistent and high-impact strategic communication approach.

Chief Secretary to the Government (KSN) Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said efforts to strengthen governance and integrity must be supported by proactive, targeted and continuous public outreach to ensure government reform messages are clearly understood by investors, the international community and the general public.

He said Malaysia improved its CPI ranking for 2025 by moving up to 54th place out of 182 countries with a score of 52/100, compared to 57th out of 180 countries with a score of 50/100 in 2024.

"The improvement reflects the government's seriousness and ongoing commitment to strengthening governance, integrity and the agenda of curbing corruption at the national level.

"Strategic communication plays a crucial role in shaping positive perceptions,” he said in a statement issued by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today.

Shamsul Azri said this when chairing the CPI Special Task Force meeting yesterday.

He said the diversity of media platforms, especially social media, which is now the main medium, plays a major role in influencing public opinion.

He added that among the key factors for the improvement were the active role played by the CPI Special Task Force in coordinating efforts to enhance international perceptions of Malaysia, implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) 2024-2028, amendments to the Audit Act 1957, which expand the auditing powers of the Auditor-General over government-linked companies (GLCs) and government-linked investment companies (GLICs), as well as the implementation of institutional and legal reform efforts.

"The reforms include the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act, efforts towards the establishment of an Ombudsman Malaysia, amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act and the commitment to separate the roles of the Attorney-General and the Public Prosecutor,” he said.

The meeting also scrutinised a presentation by Transparency International Malaysia president Raymon Ram on the details of Malaysia's CPI 2025 performance, survey analysis and the implementation roadmap for each Focus Group in 2026.

At the meeting, Shamsul Azri also congratulated the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) and the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) for recording improvements in several key CPI 2025-related studies. 

The MPC recorded improvements in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook and the World Economic Forum, while MITI showed improvements under the International Country Risk Guide published by PRS Group.

However, two studies showed a decline, namely the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) and the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law, which assesses perceptions of corruption and abuse of power in public administration.

Shamsul Azri also praised the efforts of several agencies in strengthening their respective communication management and described the MACC media as one that plays a good role in issuing statements and providing strategic, prompt and high-impact responses. 

"The improved score and Malaysia's position in the CPI are not merely numbers, but reflect the global community's level of confidence in our country's governance system,” he said.

Also present at the meeting were MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, MACC National Governance Planning Division (BPGN) senior director Datuk Idris Zaharudin, MITI secretary-general Datuk Hairil Yahri Yaacob and Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Abdul Halim Hamzah.

-- BERNAMA