According to Transparency International’s 12th annual corruption perception index, Cambodia is ranked 151 of 163 countries, which defines corruption as “the abuse of public office for private gain”. Cambodia earned 2.1 points out of a possible 10, a score it shared with Belarus, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan and Equatorial Guinea.

Cambodia’s ranking is based on a compilation of data from six of 12 independent sources used to compile the index, which includes the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment and the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Country Risk Service and Country Forecast, which is part of the Economist magazine. Data in the Transparency International survey also includes responses in surveys of resident and non-resident country analysts and business people.

Following report released by Transparency International, Some of government officials expressed unpleased with the report. And they regarded it supplied from only one side, which is under fire against government, without reflecting the current government’s efforts. At the mean time, Khieu Knharith, Ministry of Information and government spokesman, quoted by The Cambodia Daily, said that the ranking was based on information supplied only by Cambodia’s critics, such as the World Bank, and did not include any data from the Cambodian government.

Theary Seng, executive director of the Center for Social Development, said that the reasons for the poor ranking are not difficult to understand. She added that “in light of the World Bank scandal, in light of the lack of and anti-corruption law after all these years, and all the procurement that is not transparent, all that amounts to the new ranking.”

Cambodia’s ranking is significantly lower than all other countries in the region, with the exception of Burma which came to 160^th. Singapore ranked fifth. Thailand ranked 63^rd and Laos and Vietnam both ranked 111^th in the index.

According to Information Ministry’s email written, “if you consider the success on AIDS fighting, many successes on any diseased, 1 percent on poverty alleviation per year, the average economic growth and the stability of the country, you can have better image of this country.” The Cambodia Daily’s report.

The market research firm Indochina Research’s managing director said that his clients say corruption in Cambodia is a hindrance but not prohibitive. He added that “every one knows that corruption exists but we have an economy that is growing at a good rate. Corruption is more of an impediment to maximizing business.”

Om Yengtieng, who heads a Council of Ministers anti-corruption body, dismissed the index as politically biased. He said that the rankings are biased in nature and are not neutral. By the way, he suspected Transparency International gain financially from publishing negative assessments of countries like Cambodia.

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