Nepal Ranks 146 / 178

Whenever one sits down to have a conversation about the development of Nepal, the talk quickly turns to the issue of corruption, and its stronghold on the government of Nepal. Engineers have ideas to build 21st century infrastructure, entrepreneurs have ideas to vitalize markets, economists have ideas to improve financial institutions, others have ideas to run NGOs dedicated to the alleviation of poverty; one could go on and on--all of these young Nepalese (at home and abroad) with such ideas would be an immense asset to the country. However, these ideas succumb to the culture of corruption, violence, extortion, and various anecdotes that attest to this reality.



Corruption Perception Index 2010 (click here to read the entire report) put out by Transparency International ranks Nepal 146 out of 178 with an embarrassing score of 2.2 out of 10. Other countries that have the same rank include Cote D’Ivoire, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Paraguay, and Yemen. Nepal ranks last amongst the member countries of SAARC!