Governmental bodies, parastatal bodies and private sector organisations are invited to participate in this challenge which aims at encouraging enterprises to commit themselves to the fight against corruption.

ICAC's Director General, Anil Kumar Ujoodha stressed the importance for enterprises to participate in this challenge. “We want enterprises to identify the weakness in their systems and procedures, concerning fraud prevention and encourage them to consolidate or initiate a system for corruption management,” Ujoodha said.

ICAC invited for the occasion Kobst Von Kirchman, Head of Finance and Contracts Section Counsellor of the European Commission. Kirchman stressed the importance to encourage public as well private sector companies to participate in this award. “Corruption and fraud management requires the participation and intervention of all social stakeholders.

It requires a cultural change where a zero tolerance policy should be applied in every institution concerning corruption.” He also commented the role played by the European Commission as the main donor and partner for Mauritius. “As a donor we focus on accountability and proper use of resources and as a partner we would like to contribute to a positive and sustained development for greater transparency in the country. Transparency is an essential element of the actions undertaken at all levels of aid and enterprises for good governance. In this respect some Rs500 million have been earmarked by the European Commission to commitment by the Government in the area of Good Governance.”

According to World Bank statistics, fraud and corruption presently account for US $ 1 trillion involved in the business world. In Africa official figures claim that corruption amounts to some $ 150 billion which represents 25%of the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP).