Dubai: The UAE has improved its ranking for the second year in succession to remain among the top 30 least corrupt nations on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

The index is tracked by global investors.

Moving up into the 28th slot from 30th last year on the ranking of 178 countries, the UAE is ranked as the second least corrupt country in the Middle East and North Africa behind Qatar, which is ranked 19th.

The UAE scored 6.3 out of a possible 10.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore tied for first place with a score of 9.3 each while Afghanistan and Myanmar shared the second-to-last place, with Somalia coming in last.

The UAE has been ranked higher than Oman at 41, Bahrain at 48, Saudi Arabia at 50, and Kuwait at 54. It is also ranked higher than many European nations such as Spain and Portugal. China is ranked at 78 and India at 87.

Carlo Fedrigoli, a Senior Associate at law firm DLA Piper, told Gulf News: "A good score indicates a more transparent jurisdiction, a more transparent public sector and use of public budget, a more efficient public administration and a more transparent procurement process".

The expert on white-collar crime and corporate compliance said these were key elements that investors globally would consider when establishing a company or joint venture in a country.

One of the key elements that Transparency International said it used in its ranking process was the UN Convention Against Corruption, to which the UAE is a signatory.

"The UAE's steadily improving score indicates an effort and commitment to align with international best practice," Fedrigoli said.

"Examples abound," he said.

"The Dubai International Financial Centre was the first such cluster in the region to implement OECD-mandated anti-money laundering legislation. Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development has formed joint ventures with companies such as General Electric, which are champions of best practice. "Both Qatar and UAE demolish the perception that there is a cultural resistance in the Arab world to implementing anti-corruption measures," the lawyer said.

"The commitment to improving the ranking is already there. What is needed are more technical implementation-oriented measures," Fedrigoli said.

The 2010 CPI said nearly three quarters of the 178 countries in the index scored below five, or were "perceived to be highly corrupt".

"Significantly greater efforts must go into strengthening governance across the globe," Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International, said in a statement.