It's not really a bribe
An enabling payment is a
gift to an official, paid in order to induce them to actually do their job.
Back in the old country...
Under various
international standards of conduct, the payment of bribes is forbidden, and many companies (such as
Phillips, where I became aware of this), enthusiastically sign up because bribes waste
money. Unfortunately, in certain
places you just can't get by without an "enabling payment". As
paying them is not corrupt, it is allowed under the
OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. And because it would be bad for business if it weren't.