Managing Conflict of Interest - Organisation for Economic Co ...

78 Managing Conflict of Interestthe necessary acceleration of development. Indonesia, as a nationin transition, struggles with the dilemma of trying to develop a betterinvestment climate and an environment free of corruption andCOI situations, when COI is perceived as a normal way of doingbusiness.As mentioned earlier, awareness among public service employeesas well as the general public regarding COI is relatively low.Moreover, there is a lack of political will, consensus, and alignmentamong the political leadership, various government agencies, stateinstitutions, and other relevant organizations on COI principles orbest practices. However, issuing new laws and regulations to makeCOI easy to understand, apply, and enforce effectively is not animmediate answer. UNCAC’s and OECD’s guidelines would work ina country with well-established legal systems and institutional infrastructure,traditions and culture, an effective bureaucracy, a strongParliament and oversight and other monitoring mechanisms, andactively involved stakeholders including nonprofit organizations.But applying the concept of COI in a nation in transition such asIndonesia requires more strategic measures, i.e., demonstration ofstrong leadership commitment and established partnerships withemployees, business, and nonprofit sectors to increase awarenessthat COIs compromise good governance, economic development,and social welfare.RecommendationsChanges in policy or practice are never easy to make, especiallywhen there is a lack of understanding or consensus on basic conceptsand issues among key stakeholders. In order to address thechallenges described above and move from a legalistic approachto effective institutional change in Indonesia on the issue of COI,more research, realistic expectations, clear rules and guidelines,and targeted efforts to increase public engagement, advocacy, andawareness are required. The list of recommendations below alsooutlines the government actions that would be required to executeeach recommendation.• Conduct a study of COI to help map applications: TheGovernment shall fund a comprehensive study to map COIprinciples outlined in existing laws and codes of conductADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific