That kind of corruption (paying off cops) is absolutely toxic to economic development, just as much as the bigger scale corruption. You never know if your comp

That kind of corruption (paying off cops) is absolutely toxic to economic development, just as much as the bigger scale corruption. You never know if your competitor will just bribe a government official to cancel your license. Or the bank is corrupt and your funds disappear. Its pervasive in Vietnam. During Covid government officials charged $10,000+ USD for repatriation flights. Funny thing is they did it to the wrong people and it got back to the government and several senior officials were charged. Covid tests were rife with corruption, and the Minister of Health got busted. Hell, Anti-corruption officials were caught taking bribes. Until Vietnam effectively deals with corruption it will stall as a middle income country. Singapore used to be like that and with independence the government clamped down hard and still do today. I know people who work for the Singapore government and things like “can you call your friend at immigration and check on my visa?” are a big no-no. They arent even supposed to talk to other departments except for legitimate reasons. A truck driver who gave $0.50-$1 to get to the front of the line at a factory to offload his truck was recently found guilty of bribery in Singapore. And so was the forklift operator ge gave the money to. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/man-taken-to-court-for-allegedly-trying-to-obtain-a-1-bribe-from-truck-driver https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/man-take... And as a result you can invest in Singapore and know your money wont be stolen by some crooked government worker. Its a safe haven in SE Asia unlike any other country.