Indonesia the most corrupt economy in Asia
Indonesia the most corrupt economy in Asia
Agence France-Presse
Singapore
Corruption in Indonesia is becoming worse, according to the
Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), which ranked the
country the most corrupt among 12 national economies in Asia
covered by its latest survey of some 1,000 expatriate businessmen
working in the region.
"It is hard to believe that the problem of corruption in
Indonesia could grow worse, but that is what is happening. The
entire national legal system is in shambles, so the courts do not
offer much protection," the Hong Kong-based PERC said.
The survey also revealed that corruption remains high in the
rest of the region.
In a scale of one to ten with ten being the worst possible
score, Indonesia was seen as the most corrupt with a grade of
9.92, its worst score since the survey started in 1995. India was
the second most corrupt with a score of 9.17, slightly down from
9.25 last year.
Vietnam got the third worst score of 8.25, but this was
sharply down from 9.75 in 2001.
The Philippines, where the level of corruption was described
by PERC as "bad", scored 8.0, an improvement on last year's 9.0.
PERC noted a "marked improvement" in the Philippines after
President Gloria Arroyo took over from Joseph Estrada last year,
but stressed that Manila's score remained well below the average.
Taiwan was graded 5.83, beating China's 7.00, which was an
improvement on its 7.88 rating in 2001.
According to PERC, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong have the
least corrupt economies in Asia. Only these countries scored
above the average grade of five.
"Of the countries covered here, only Singapore really stands
out as having a reputation that matches or even surpasses that of
developed Western economies like the U.S., the UK and Australia,"
PERC said.
Malaysia was judged the fourth least corrupt with a score of
5.71, better than the 6.0 it got in 2001, followed by South Korea
with 5.75, down from 7.0 last year.
In Malaysia, the problem "has been more one of poor corporate
governance than outright corruption".
The survey revealed that perceived corruption is lower
compared to a year ago in the majority of the region's economies.
However, "with the exception of a couple of countries in Asia,
the problem of corruption remains far too high for comfort," it
said.
In some of the places where the problem is worst, "it is
perceived to be growing".
"What is particularly interesting is that in almost every
country the range of grades was very narrow. There was a broad
consensus on the magnitude of corruption as a problem for
business," the survey said.
Efforts to impose more rigorous regulatory standards worldwide
following the collapse of U.S. energy giant Enron Corp. could
result in more Asian companies being unable to meet the new
requirements, PERC said.
On the other hand, Asia could also resist Western pressure for
reforms by citing the shortcomings of corporate America as
mirrored in the Enron bankruptcy saga.
"The U.S. is certainly not going to stop pressuring Asian
governments to adopt certain standards and practices, but if the
U.S. starts being viewed like an emperor with no clothes telling
everyone else how to dress, this could be deeply resented by
those coming under this pressure," PERC warned.