Corruption perception worsens, poll says

The people’s perception of corruption in Macau’s business sector is at an all time low, according to the annual poll by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
However, the report praises the attempts by the Government to clean up the territory and boost the powers of anti-graft busters.
The index on the business environment is deteriorating due to corrupt practices. It rose from 3.75 in the report published in 2009 to 5.71 this year.
Overall, the survey put Macau economy in the 6th position in a table of regional economies with a score of 4.96 out of the worst possible 10. In 2009, Macau was ranked 7th, with a score of 5.84.
Indonesia didn’t move from its 2009 position as the most corrupt country in Southeast Asia and graft is getting even worse. Singapore remained top of the list with a score of 1.42, while Australia was second with 2.28 and Hong Kong third with 2.67.
Hong Kong slipped a place from a year ago, with PERC saying questionable tactics by property developers likely dragged the territory’s score down.
The United States – included for comparison purposes – was fourth with a score of 3.42, followed by Japan (3.49), Macau (4.96), South Korea (5.98), Taiwan (6.28), Malaysia (6.47) and China (6.52).
PERC polled 2,147 mid-level and senior Asian and expatriate business executives from December to February for the results.
The survey results on the people’s perception of corruption in the Government, registered improvements compared to last year’s report, but the results were most likely influenced by several public cases involving senior Government officials. One such case has seen the Finance Services’ director Orieta Lau suspended after being identified by the Commission of Audit as having defrauded the Government on more than MOP 3.4 million, through excessive compensation paid for the number of meetings held between 2006 and 2009, in the Commission for the Evaluation of Motor Vehicles.