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Thailand ranks higher in corrupt country list
BANGKOK, Oct. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Thailand ranked higher in an influential annual list of corrupt countries released on Wednesday, showing slightly results in the country's anti-corruption fight over the past year.
According to the latest Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Thailand received 3.6 points on a scale of 0-10, an increase of 0.3, and ranked 64th among 146 countries on the list. Here 10 means a country is "higher clear" and zero equates to "highly corrupt".
The kingdom was placed 70th among 133 countries last year.
The improvement is meaningful because CPI reflects how the country is perceived by others in terms of corruption, Juree Vichit-Vadakan, secretary-general of the Organization for Transparency in Thailand, was quoted by Bangkok Post newspaper as saying on Thursday.
She noted the CPI is based on studies by independent institutions, such as the World Bank, which produce annual reportsfor investors.
Finland archived a near-perfect 9.7 ranking first as the least corrupt globally followed by New Zealand while Bangladesh rated the most corrupt in the world for the fourth consecutive year.
In Asia, Singapore tops the first with 9.3 points and Thailand ranks the seventh.
"Across the world, corruption in large-scale public projects isa daunting obstacle to sustainable development, tearing at the social fabric and contributing to civil unrest and conflict," saidPeter Eigen, chairman of the graft watchdog Transparency International (TI).
It results in a major loss of public funds needed for education,health care and poverty alleviation, both in developed and developing countries, he added. Enditem
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