“Corruption has plagued the country for years and it continues to do so,” said the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) Faizal Salieh, on a recent edition of LMDtv.

While the country is suffering the dual blow of corruption and multiple crises, according to him, the former – when looked at from a business perspective – has been identified as one of the underlying root causes of the latter.

He explained: “Corruption has grown; it exists at the business level, state level and society level. From a business perspective, it exists both at the strategy level and transaction level.”

“The interplay [between corruption and the economic crisis] actually places a moderate to high corruption risk for businesses operating in Sri Lanka,” Salieh asserted, listing several common forms of corruption – including facilitating payments to avoid bureaucratic red tape, solicitation of bribes by state officials, nepotism and cronyism in the absence of strong legal requirements.

Corruption has “serious implications” not only for business but society as a whole, which business is an integral part of, he added.

And Salieh noted that “what really matters here is the mindset of business leaders, company boards and corporate management executives in business.”

For the Chairman of SLID, the presence of macro turbulence or otherwise in the business environment should not justify the consideration of corruption as a necessary evil in Sri Lanka.

He explained: “Several businesses have often adopted a rather patronising and tolerant attitude towards corruption, thereby letting it become embedded in their business culture and value system.”

With corruption having grown to become a significant business risk with a high social cost, he called for the need for socially responsible businesses to understand this risk and its consequences – and “strive hard and resolve to mitigate the risk rather than tolerate it.”

According to him, the values these professionals and entities subscribe to, and uphold, when engaging in business are the starting point “to construct any sustainable solution to the corruption problem – and overcome the challenges posed by the evil of corruption in business.”

Taking a stand against corruption would require strong business ethics and an uncompromising co-valuing system, he emphasised, adding that this is one of the key aims of the Business Against Corruption initiative that SLID recently launched in collaboration with Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL).

“This initiative is specifically designed and directed at enabling businesses to come together, and identify the degree of corruption risk they face in pursuing their own businesses, both at the strategy level and transaction level – and build their own resilience frameworks to address and mitigate the risk,” he explained.

Currently working with 10 committed anchor partners from different industry sectors, the initiative aims to “proactively and progressively mitigate the risk of corruption,” he noted.

Speaking about the contribution needed by the next generation of directors to combat corruption in Sri Lanka, he remains hopeful, given that “young people are a loud voice against corruption everywhere.”

“And that’s the voice we need to actively encourage; [young directors] need to be bold and expressive in order to move the board conversation in the right direction,” he added.

As for the core value that will make a real difference between businesses pursuing pure short-term gain or profiteering and working towards long-term sustainability, he averred that the “one important thing that matters here is doing the right thing in the right way.”

And he elaborated on the need for such action: “There are gaps; many arising from the politically patronising business culture that’s embedded in our business DNA. We need to undo this; we must get both the end and the means to the end right.”