Nepal sees no improvement in property rights

Nepal has neither improved its rank nor score in the International Property Rights Index for the year 2013.

According to the report published by Property Rights Alliance (PRA) based in Washington DC, Nepal ranked 101^st – among the 131 countries – in the International Property Rights Index 2013 with a score of 4.5 out of 10, whereas in the year 2012 also Nepal was at the same rank.

From 2009 to 2013, the overall IPRI score of Nepal has not changed.

However, between 2012 and 2013 the IPRI score improved by 0.1 points. In fact, all three components gained 0.1 points during this time period.

Legal and Political Environment grew by 0.1 points due to a 0.2 point increases in Judicial Independence and Political Stability, whereas a significant 0.4 point gain in the item Protection of Physical Property Rights helped lead to a 0.1 point higher Physical Property Rights component score. Likewise, the 0.1 point increase in Intellectual Property Rights is due to a 0.2 point increase in Protection of Intellectual Property Rights.

The International Property Rights Index is an annual comparative study that aims at qualifying the strength of property rights – both physical and intellectual – and ranks the countries based on 10 factors reflecting the state of Legal and Political Environment (LP), apart from Physical Property Rights (PPR) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

The 2013 report – that is based on 131 countries explores the last five years between 2009 and 2013 – represents 98 per cent of the world gross domestic product (GDP) and 93 per cent of the world population.

Nepal falls under the bottom 20 per cent average per capita income by International Property Rights Index quintile, whereas on an average, countries in top 20 per cent quintile of the index showed a per capita income around seven times that of bottom quintile countries.

The hardline UCPN-Maoist government that has no respect for individual liberty and property rights, and believe in authoritarian rule has been still confusion that the rejection of property rights means the rejection of wealth creation forcing the country to poverty.

According to the 2013 report, Finland leads the 2013 ranking with a score of 8.6, followed by New Zealand and Sweden with 8.4, and Norway with 8.3. Likewise, Singapore leads in South East Asia with 8.1 score.

Top five

1.     Finland (8.6)

2.     New Zealand (8.4)

3.     Sweden (8.4)

4.     Norway (8.3)

5.     Netherlands (8.2)

6.     Switzerland (8.2)

7.     Luxumberg (8.1)

8.     Singapore (8.1)

Bottom five

131. Yemen (3.1)

130. Venezuela (3.4)

129. Burundi (3.4)

128. Haiti (3.4)

127. Libya (3.4)

126. Bangladesh (3.5)

125. Algeria (3.7)

124. Zimbabwe (3.8)