The defence ministry has become more transparent in its administration and procurement of assets, said Transparency International Malaysia.

TI-M deputy president Dr KM Loi said this could be seen from its willingness to respond to the assessment on the biannual Government Defense Anti-Corruption Index 2015, unlike in 2013.

Loi ( photo ) said the ministry was graded 'D-' or high in corruption risk in the previous assessment, after it failed to respond to the assessment, putting Malaysia in the same group as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ethiopia and China, among others.

"This time around, it's different. The minister, when we submitted the assessment in April, called us for a meeting, although it was cancelled at the last minute due to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

"However, the officer in charge in the ministry had responded to almost every review we submitted in the assessment which we have now collected and prepare to send back to Transparency International-UK for the final assessment," he said on the sidelines of the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference in Putrajaya today.

He said that an assessment was done by TI-UK on a ministry's budget, administration, staff and procurements, among others.

The index initiated by TI in 2004 covers 82 countries from the major arms producing nations through to fragile states.

It provides detailed analysis for each country that described the mechanisms it has in place to prevent corruption in the defence sector.

TI-UK defence and security programme director Katherine Dixon said that a study by an independent organisation found that 40 percent of global corruption came from the security and defence sector.

"This is because it's such a high value sector and so secretive, and so a lot of transactions are very difficult for people to scrutinise," she said.

- Bernama