RI rated Asia's most corrupt<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Indonesia has been rated as the most
\ncorrupt country in Asia, but the problem is increasing in almost
\nevery country in the region, a report said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Asian Intelligence report by the Hong Kong-based Political
\nand Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd (PERC) said the survey of
\nexpatriate business executives in the region showed that only the
\nPhilippines and Singapore were seen making progress against
\ncorruption last year.<\/p>\n
The report did no give a timeframe for the survey, but 280
\nexecutives were surveyed and asked to grade each country on a
\nscale of 0-10. Zero being the best grade and 10 the worst.<\/p>\n
"Our survey rated the problem of corruption in Indonesia as
\nbeing the worst in Asia," the report, made available yesterday,
\nsaid. Indonesia had the worst score of more than 8.0.<\/p>\n
"A series of high-profile cases highlighted the extent to
\nwhich politically influential individuals were able to arrange
\nmatters to their own financial benefit. Growing nepotism ... was
\nthus probably equated with corruption" in the survey, it said.<\/p>\n
One case cited was the long-running struggle by influential
\ncompanies "to get a piece of the action" in Indonesia's Busang
\ngold field being developed by Canada's Bre-X Minerals Ltd and
\nFreeport-McMoran.<\/p>\n
Busang is now under a deep cloud after Bre-X admitted last
\nweek that the potential reserves, which it had reported in
\nFebruary at 71 million ounces, appear to have been overstated.<\/p>\n
Another country cited in the PERC report was South Korea.<\/p>\n
"Our survey indicates that the magnitude of the problem is
\nperceived to be worse than in Thailand and on a similar scale to
\nIndia and China," it said.<\/p>\n
The collapse of Hanbo Steel Co Ltd and the indictment of
\nseveral members of the ruling New Korea Party in the scandal "has
\nseriously tarnished President Kim Young Sam's `Mr. Clean' image,"
\nit added.<\/p>\n
In the case of China and India, the report said it found it
\ndifficult to distinguish where the problem was worse.<\/p>\n
While India's free-wheeling press and open democratic system
\nallows corruption to get more public exposure, the closed system
\nin China allows officials "to hide their dirty laundry."<\/p>\n
"In both cases, however, corruption is a formidable problem,"
\ndeclared the PERC.<\/p>\n
The survey did not include any other countries in the Indian
\nsubcontinent. Pakistan was found in a survey last year by Berlin-
\nbased Transparency International (TI) to be the world's second
\nmost corrupt place to do business after Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Corruption is coming up in Malaysia especially after Prime
\nMinister Mahathir Mohamad's emotional speech last year during the
\ncongress of the ruling UMNO party about corruption and money
\npolitics.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Singapore is still seen as being tough on
\ncorruption, while the Philippines "has tried to make its
\noperations more transparent and graft has been reduced."<\/p>\n
"The Philippines has gone from being the symbol of big-time
\ncorruption in Asia to being seen as one of the countries in the
\nregion genuinely seeking to clean up its act," the PERC said.<\/p>\n
The PERC said an effective campaign against corruption
\n"requires an institutional framework that is lacking in many
\ncountries...and can take years to develop."<\/p>\n
"Foreign businessmen operating in Asia are increasingly
\nconscious of the need to develop such institutions and, when they
\nare in place, to use them effectively," the report concluded.<\/p>\n
In order of cleanest to most corrupt, were Singapore, Hong
\nKong, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, South
\nKorea, Vietnam, China, India and Indonesia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-rated-asias-most-corrupt-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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