Cambodia's corruption index improves by a hair ... but still near the bottom, i.e. one of the most corrupt country in the world

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
KI-Media

Transparency International issued its 2009 Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Cambodia's rank moved to 158 out of a total of 180, a slight improvement over 2008 when Cambodia ranked 166. Among ASEAN countries, Cambodia ranks lowest along with Laos.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: No. 166

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Cambodia ranked 166 on the Corruption Perception Index among 180 nations: Bravo!?!?

CPI 2008 (Map by Transparency International)

Click here to view the complete CPI ranking table

Communist Vietnam is not immune to corruption, and neither are Laos and Cambodia

24/05/2007

VietNamNet Bridge – In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is ranked at the same level as Laos (2.6 points), above Indonesia (2.4), Cambodia (2.1) and Myanmar (1.9) on the corruption perceptions index (CPI).

During their research process in the world, staffs of the Transparency International (TI) organisation asked businessmen, scholars and government officials to evaluate the social situation in general and the business environment in particular in their countries.

The results of this survey were used to assess the corruption levels of officials in the form of the CPI. However, CPI doesn’t directly asses the corruption situation in the private economic sector.

The CPI is set from zero to ten points. More points mean more ‘clean’. CPI 2006 shows that Finland (9.6 points) is the ‘cleanest’ country worldwide. This country has maintained this position for two consecutive years. Haiti and Iraq have surpassed Bangladesh to stand at the bottom with 1.8 points.

According to CPI 2006 report, over 50% of developing countries have fewer than three points. The 2006 report mentions 163 countries in the world and it was compiled from data of 12 surveys by nine independent institutes in the world.

Vietnam’s CPI in 2006 rose by 0.2 points compared to 2005 but it still ranked 111th of the 163 countries compared to 107th in 2005.

An analyst of Southeast Asia of TI said that Vietnam reaching 2.6 points in 2006 meant that Vietnam was making remarkable improvements in the battle against corruption.

However, some typical anti-corruption cases are not calculated in the CPI, for example the PMU18 and the Do Son land scam, which demonstrate the strong will of the Vietnamese government in fighting against corruption.

The expert of TI also said that the data and surveys that TI performed in Vietnam were based on some international orgnisations like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme in Vietnam and some independent research institutions based outside Vietnam so its CPI couldn’t reflect the total picture of corruption in Vietnam and the thinking of the business cycle or the people.

Source: Government Inspectorate