ABMS 37001:2016 PERFORMANCE REVIEW WORKSHOP – MBI EMPHASISES HIGH COMMITMENT TO INTEGRITY

IPOH, 14 AUGUST 2025 – Ipoh City Council (MBI) continues to strengthen its culture of integrity and best governance through the organisation of the Performance Review Workshop on Compliance, Inaccuracy Management and Root Cause Analysis, as well as Proposed Scope Expansion for ABMS 37001:2016 Certification, which was held on 13 and 14 August 2025 at Dewan Azlan Shah, Level 10, MBI.

The workshop was officiated by City Secretary Ahmad Munir Ishak, and attended by a panel of consultants, Heads of Departments and representatives of MBI departments.

In his speech, Ahmad Munir emphasised that the implementation of the Anti-Bribery Management System (ABMS) based on the MS ISO 37001:2016 standard is not merely to meet certification requirements, but aims to instill the values of integrity, transparency and accountability in every aspect of work.

"MBI will not tolerate any form of corruption, abuse of power, or actions that may tarnish the reputation of this organisation," he stressed.

He stated that this workshop was an important platform to assess the performance of ABMS implementation, identify areas for improvement, and formulate follow-up actions based on the remarks received from SIRIM during the audit on 3 and 4 July 2025.

Since obtaining the MS ISO 37001:2016 certification, MBI has made progress in improving work processes, reporting integrity issues, and more systematic internal monitoring. However, he acknowledged that there is still room for improvement, particularly in addressing identified non-compliance.

MBI obtained ABMS 37001:2016 certification in July 2024 for the PROCUREMENT scope. However, the Council's efforts will not stop there. With the continued commitment from the management, the Council intends to expand the ABMS scope to include matters covering planning issues, project implementation and enforcement, in line with MBI's core services that are considered high risk and vulnerable to abuse of power, misconduct and corruption.

“Our success is not measured merely by documents or certificates, but by our ability to build an organisation that is truly immune to corruption and grounded in integrity,” he added.

He hoped that this workshop would produce thorough, practical and constructive recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of ABMS at MBI, thus providing significant benefits to both the organisation and the community.