Telenor leads SMEs towards zero corruption tolerance in Hungary

In May 2012, Telenor has joined the local Corporate Supporters Forum of the anti-corruption organization and signed a long-term partnership agreement with Transparency International (TI) Hungary, a local branch of the international civil society organization working to mitigate corruption in over 100 countries across the world.

Through this partnership, Telenor will develop best practice anti-corruption solutions for the Hungarian SME sector. Leveraging the NGO’s unique competence and Telenor’s practical experience stemming from its international presence, the partners will develop a comprehensive e-learning material to enable Hungarian SMEs to enforce the principles of fair business behaviour in their daily operation.

TI observes corruption risks in business elite
According to the latest Transparency International’s Corruption perception index, Hungary is ranked 54 out of 183 countries. Furthermore, The National Integrity Study indicates that the relationship between the political and business elite bears high corruption risks in common business transactions such as bankruptcy, liquidation, procurements, and obtaining official permits.

One can do fair business and be successful
“We want to show that it is possible to do fair business and be a successful company. That is why we have joined Transparency International’s Corporate Supporters’ Forum, where only the companies that comply with the high standards of the civil organization are selected,” says Christopher Laska, Telenor Hungary CEO.

Developing e-learning kit for SMEs
Hungarian business sector has relatively high proportion of micro and small enterprises: The business sector encompasses 200,000 companies without legal personality (typically partnerships, where owners have limited liability) and one million registered sole proprietors as well.
Laska explains that Telenor wants to lead by example and help the companies that aim for zero tolerance of corruption, but they lack the international background and expertise. Together with the NGO, Telenor is going to develop an e-learning kit to help Hungarian small and middle sized enterprises in ethical operation. Through everyday situation typical for Hungary, it will show ethical dilemmas and point to right decisions.

Telenor promotes culture of fair business practices
“Corruption ruins reputation that had been built with great efforts. It creates an unfair business environment that decreases effectiveness, productivity, development and healthy competition of entire sectors. It is not only dangerous for single companies, but for the whole country as well. We hope that more and more companies will recognize this and join our efforts,” said Christopher Laska, CEO of Telenor Hungary

“I’m very pleased that Telenor has joined our Corporate Supporters Forum for Hungarian companies taking zero corruption tolerance seriously. Our partnership with Telenor sets a model to follow, as Telenor has not only committed to its own ethical operation but also agreed to promote the culture of fair business practices in the Hungarian business community”, said Noémi Alexa, Managing Director of Transparency International Hungary.

Read the National Integrity Study of Transparency International Hungary