Singapore 'least bogged down in Asia by bureaucracy'

Singapore's civil service emerged tops in a survey of 12 Asian economies, for being least encumbered by red tape and concentration of power.

Despite recent high-profile corruption scandals involving public officers, Singapore chalked up its best showing in the five surveys done by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (Perc) since 1997. It scored 1.11 - out of the worst possible score of 10. This was a 66 per cent improvement from 16 years ago.

The study released on Wednesday, titled Bureaucracy: Asia's Best And Worst, was done in the third quarter of this year. It canvassed views from more than 100 locals and expatriates working in each of the 12 economies studied.

Singapore is also the only one on the list - which includes China, Japan and South Korea - whose score has improved consistently over the last 16 years.