Yes its true to become strong we need to improve fast and some faster strategy needed to remove corruption. Singapore is one example that have best improvement after removing corruption.
Singapore is a city nation. It is possible to progress more if you are small sized. That is why we have tendency for smaller states. Our smaller states also progress more quickly.
Corruption is bad but it goes to the credit of corrupt they work best and fastest. The 'honest' are lethargic and do not work. We should curb corruption but it is more necessary to curtail useless activities and unproductive expenses. China spends very little on unproductive functions like mass rallies, hunger strike management, frequent elections and useless discussions. That is also reason of their more rapid progress.