Liberty, property rights, rule of law key to prosperity

NEW DELHI: Experts claimed that liberty, property rights and rule of law are keys to economic growth and prosperity of a country.

"Historically property rights had ensured prosperous countries," Barun Mitra of Liberty Institute in India, said, citing examples of the oldest democracies in the world that ensured property rights to become prosperous countries.

Delivering his speech on 'Liberty, Property and Justice,' during second day of two-day Asia Liberty Forum: Advancing Liberty and Markets in Asia,' organised by Centre for Civil Society and Asia Enterprise Centre, in New Delhi today, he also attributed transaction related to land and property to rising corruption today in countries like India and Nepal.

Liberty – both political and economic – right to property and rule of law guarantee any nation economic growth and prosperity, said Feng Xingyuan of the Unirule China entrepreneur Research Centre. "China needs 7.19 per cent growth rate every year to double its per capita GDP by 2020," he said, adding that China, at the current rate of growth, will fall into a middle income trap, though China claims to be economically free, both political and economic liberty is important for accelerated growth. "The greater economic and political liberty can only enure more economic growth of China to compete with the US."

Likewise, Kriengsak Chareonwongsak of Institute of Future Studies for Development in Thailand, suggested land reforms for the better future of Thai farmers, who have been suffering from lack of land.

He also suggested Land Bank to bring the farmers to bring out of poverty trap.

The two-day Liberty Forum – the second edition of such forum – ended today with a story of a North Korean refugee Chanyang Ju, who escaped the communist dictator in search of freedom and liberty.

Ju narrated her story – in broken English – of escape with tearful eyes that made the participants more emotional to know that in the present history also, there is still such a country that does not allow its people right to free movement and the citizens bribe brokers to escape their countries with fear to be caught and tried. Ju's narrative of struggle for freedom made the audience emotional.