“With a weak and unstable coalition government in power, increased competition in the election to the Constituent Assembly and post-conflict spending imperatives, corruption opportunities must have increased in Nepal during the transition phase,” TI said in its annual report released on Thursday.
This year´s report has been themed on The Global Corruption Report 2009: Corruption and the Private Sector. The report shows how corruption practices constitute a destructive force that undermines fair competition and stifles economic growth and ultimately undercuts a business´s own existence.
The report says the private sector in Nepal has played a part, as both a cause and effect, of corruption as the business people in their attempts to build rapport with centers of powers have shot them greatly in terms of donations and contributions to political parties and their sister organizations, such as trade unions, youth wings and student unions.
The porous border with India has also led corruption to thrive on in Nepal, the global anti-graft watchdog says. “This stretch [open border with India] has long provided a safe heaven for business people engaged in illegal trade,” TI said.
The report further states that corruption is equally thriving in the northern border with China as well.
“With increased globalization and the opening of markets in China, illegal trading activities are also flourishing across the northern border with China. Not only are low-cost Chinese goods smuggled into Nepal and then India, contraband items are smuggled into China from Nepal,” the TI report states.
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