China and Vietnam bettered their scores, but PERC said that the improved perception was because corruption was not being discussed openly.
“The media in both China and Vietnam is subject to tight censorship. The only bad news the governments want published is news that they see fit for public consumption,” it said.
China was the seventh most corrupt nation, according to the survey table, up two places from last year. Vietnam was in 10th place out of 13, also up two.
India was in ninth place. PERC said the Indian government must accelerate reforms, warning that corruption can limit companies’ expansion plans.
Singapore again just beat regional rival Hong Kong as the cleanest economy, although the latter posted a sharp improvement from its image in 2006.
PERC’s managing director Robert Broadfoot told AFP this may have resulted from a perception that “the differences between Hong Kong and (mainland) China are even starker now.”
Singapore is becoming increasingly vulnerable to corruption elsewhere, the PERC report said, citing the soured investment by state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings in Thai telecom giant Shin Corp.
The tax-free sale of Shin Corp to Temasek by the Thaksin family fuelled the political crisis that led to the military taking power in Thailand.
Another problem, the report added, is that foreigners “who have profited from corruption elsewhere in Asia sometimes seek a haven for their ill-gotten gains” in Singapore, where rich Indonesian families hold massive assets. (AFP)
[tags]davao today, philippines, corruption, perc, asia[/tags]
