Malaysia being placed 44th, down five places from the previous year, in the Transparency International 2006 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is 'not too bad', according to a minister today.

"The position is not too bad. We are not in denial, there are certain obstacles that we need to face," Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Bernard Dompok was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Malaysia came in 44th among 163 countries surveyed by Transparency International, scoring five out of 10 points.

A score of 10 points denotes a clean economy while one point refers to a highly corrupt state.

Without revealing what he meant by obstacles, Dompok said there were shortcomings that needed to be addressed.

"That is why we are supportive of a forum like this," he said referring to the World Ethics and Transparency Forum in Kuala Lumpur which he officiated before speaking to reporters.

Working hard

The CPI also places Malaysia on 10th placing out of 25 economies in the Asia Pacific Region.

Dompok said even though there was a certain weakness in the study's methodology, he said Malaysia was working harder to improve its corruption perception index.

He repeated the government's stand to act firmly without fear or favour against corrupt practices.

On the suggestion that the government reveals the contents of the agreement involving privatisation projects such as highway projects in order to show transparency, Dompok said the matter had been brought up at the cabinet meeting.

Highway concession agreements and similar documents fall under the Official Secrets Act and those who expose them can face a jail sentence.

When Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over the reins in 2003, he had vowed to come down hard on corruption.

Four years on, detractors have criticised the Abdullah administration of failing to live up to its promise while the premier and his family have also been accused of nepotism and cronyism.