Malaysia has scored the worst in the Bribe Payers Survey 2012, as said by Transparency International. Over 3000 executes from 30 countries were asked whether they had lost a contract in the past year from competitors paying bribes, and 50% of Malaysians said yes.
While Japan was ranked as the world’s least corrupt place to do business (2%), Indonesia, one country with a biggest reputation for corruption still fared better than Malaysia, a more developed country.
In 2009, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak pledged to eradicate corruption and regain public confidence in the system, where cases of bribery has been investigated, and yet it appears that it’s only gotten worse in 2012. (Source)
Paul Low, president of the Malaysian chapter of Transparency International said, “It shows the attitude of private companies in Malaysia, indicating that bribery in the pubic sector could be systemic and in a sense institutionalized”.
He adds, “I think this should be a cause of concern for us”.
According to Low, the countries chosen by Transparency Internation was due to the high level of international trade and investment in the respective countries. He also stated that the living standards of a country also determined that character of the population, stating “countries with a higher standard of living also have a corruption-free society”.
He also stressed that elimination of corruption is still the key to making the country a high-income nation. (Source)
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