Corruption in Vietnam

One night in Ho Chi Minh City, our bus was picking us up outside of the restaurant where we had dinner. As with every other time, the bus stopped by the side of the road to allow us to load. What was different this time was the arrival of some traffic cops.

I've already said something about the scooters, and I'll just mention here that it was two traffic cops, but they were on one motorcycle. Just a little unexpected, and therefore worth noting.

Apparently, it is illegal to park on the side of the road for loading and unloading. We could do it at the hotel because it seems that the hotel paid the local traffic cops for the right. Obviously, this restaurant did not.

The driver looked serious as he stepped away from the bus and approached the officers. He returned to the bus and pulled all sorts of documents, then returned to the officers, handing the papers over. More and more time passed, and I noticed a little more tension in the body language of the driver, our tour guide, and in Nhu.

There was a lot at stake. If the driver was given a ticket, it would cost about $40 in fines (a very large amount in this country), but maybe more importantly, his license to drive would be suspended for a month. That would deny him an opportunity to earn money as a driver for a significant amount of time.

But the problem could be solved. If the driver would pay the police $10 now, he could avoid the hassle of going to the court, paying the fine and losing his license. A win-win situation for everyone!

Except that it isn't. It was a classic shake-down. The cops knew the problems the driver would have and the choice was really no choice at all. And this type of thing goes on all across the country. A few years ago, Japan suspended its financial aid package to the country because too much of the money was being siphoned off by government officials. It is widely accepted that corruption lowers GDP, hurts foreign investment, and creates difficulty for businesses. On the Corruption Perception Index, Vietnam ranks 116 in the world, an improvement from previous levels, but still well below the levels most highly-functioning economies enjoy...

Here is a link to a recent article in VietNews titled "Vietnam makes minor advance in corruption index."