Malaysia Country Profile

Licences, Infrastructure and Public Utilities

Individual Corruption

There are reports of several incidents where patients have not been able to retrieve itemised bills from state-run hospitals. In relation to this, Transparency International Malaysia has called for more transparency and accountability from public service facilities, such as hospitals.

Illegal immigrants have reportedly been buying forged personal identification documents, including birth certificates, from a syndicate involving national registration officers for around MYR 18,000 in order to enter Malaysia. Similarly there are reports of immigrants who pay bribes in order to avoid deportation. According to the Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2009, however, only few of the surveyed households report having paid bribes to obtain utilities and medical services or when dealing with registry and permit services.

Business Corruption

According to Reuters India 2008, Malaysia has several million immigrant workers, and corruption in the immigration authorities is not an uncommon feature. There are reports of companies paying facilitation payments in order to expedite visa approvals.

An online newspaper Malay Mail 2007 reports that the Anti-Corruption Agency (in Malay) has been increasingly aware of corruption in the Road Transport Department since 2007, as enforcement officers from this department have been known to collaborate with immunity sticker syndicates (stickers used on road vehicles that provide immunity against police roadblocks). Immunity stickers have been used by overloaded lorries to bypass controls. In the first two weeks of 2008, 15 cases of overloading were brought to court in the cities of Kuala Kangsar and Taiping, which imposed fines up to MYR 9,000.

Political Corruption

According to the US Department of State 2008, the Director General of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) stated that it had arrested 585 people during 2008, including 271 civil servants. Among these, the Agency arrested the Director General of Immigration for allegedly accepting bribes to authorise visas for more than 4,000 workers from Bangladesh - a labour group vulnerable to exploitation. It also arrested the Deputy Director General for allegedly accepting bribes to authorise social visas for Chinese women, a group vulnerable to commercial sex exploitation. Both officials were removed from their positions along with six other officials.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2010:
- Starting a company requires the entrepreneur to go through 9 procedures, taking 11 days and costing approximately 12% of income per capita.

- Building a warehouse in Malaysia requires a company to undergo an average of 25 administrative procedures, taking an average of 261 days at a cost of 7.1% of income per capita.

- It takes an average of 2.3 years to close a business at a cost of 15% of the estate.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give government administrative requirements (permits, regulations, reporting) in Malaysia a score of 4.1 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'extremely burdensome' and 7 'not burdensome at all'), constituting a competitive business advantage for the country.

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2009:
- 5% of households who had contact with registry and permit services in 2008 report to have paid a bribe.

- 1% of households who had to obtain utilities in 2008 report to have paid a bribe.

- 2% of households who had contact with medical services in 2008 report to have paid a bribe.

Transparency International Malaysia: Transparency Perception Survey 2007:
- 23% of corporate respondents cite the Road Transport Department and the Licensing Board to be among the most corrupt public institutions in Malaysia.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- Over 10% of companies indicate business licences and permits as a major constraint to doing business.