Corruption in Cambodia

Examples of areas where Cambodians encounter corrupt practices in their everyday lives include obtaining medical services, dealing with alleged traffic violations, and pursuing fair court verdicts. Companies are urged to be aware when dealing with extensive red tape when obtaining licenses and permits, especially construction related permits, and that the demand for and supply of bribes are commonplace in this process. The 2010 Anti-Corruption Law provides no protection to whistleblowers, and whistleblowers can be jailed for up to 6 months if they report corruption that cannot be proven.^[1]

Extent

Human trafficking and sex trafficking in Cambodia are significant problems.^[2] The anti-human-trafficking unit in Phnom Penh is the epitome of that. Bribes to arrest innocent people have been accepted and sexual favors from prostitutes have been demanded and recorded by NGOs.

In Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, which scored 180 countries on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"), Cambodia scored 22. When ranked by score, Cambodia ranked 158th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.^[3] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180).^[4] For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among the countries of the Asia Pacific region^{[Note 1]} was 85, the average score was 45 and the lowest score was 17.^[5]

Anti-corruption efforts

In 2010, the government established the National Arbitration Center, Cambodia's first alternative dispute resolution mechanism, to enable companies to resolve commercial disputes more quickly and inexpensively than through the court system. While the official operation of the center was delayed until early 2012,^[1] in January 2012, the National Assembly passed Cambodia's first law on public procurement in a bid to fight endemic corruption in the public sector.

The Cambodian government passed the Anti-Corruption Law in March 2010. Under the new law, any official found guilty of corruption can face up to 15 years in prison. Under Cambodia's Anti-Corruption Law, people who resort to facilitation payments to obtain government services will now face harsh penalties; this also applies to government officials on the receiving end.^[1]

Notes

^ Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, North Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu, and Vietnam