Peruvian pioneering development economist, Hernando de Soto spoke to the US House Foreign Affair’s Committee on “the economic roots of the Arab Spring”, May 21 2013.  At a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives entitled “The Call for Economic Liberty in the Arab World”, Hernando spent two hours presenting a prepared statement followed by a Q&A session.

He is the president of the Institute of Liberty and Democracy (ILD) which has worked in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region for more than 12 years. Hernando told the committee that while most policy makers in the US and Europe see the Arab world revolutions as a problem, he considers it as a solution to economic growth and a contribution to peace in a region. He also described the ILD’s  research  which had  found  that   MENA  economies  were  “in  the  midst  of  a  transition  from  a  pre-market  to  a  market   order  –  and  the  crucial  element  to  the  success  of  that  transition  was  giving  ordinary   people  easy  access  to  legal  property  rights.”

Click here to watch Hernando.

To find out more about Hernando de Soto, or to book him as a speaker for your conference or event, please contact Leo von Bülow-Quirk at leo@chartwellpartners.com or call 0044 (0) 20 7792 8000.