The 2011 International Property Rights Index (IPRI) has ranked Nepal in the 100th place among 129 countries, one slot higher than last year. The IPRI is an annual international comparative study that measures physical and intellectual property rights and their protection around the world. The study quantifies the strength of property rights, both physical and intellectual, and ranks countries accordingly. The countries are ranked based on 11 factors reflecting the state of legal and political environment (LP), physical property rights (PPR) and intellectual property rights (IPR). This year the report contains rankings of 129 economies representing 97 percent of the world GDP. The 2011 IPRI has given Nepal a score of 4.4 out of 10 in the overall property rights status, while it has scored 3.2 in LP, 5.8 in PPR and 4.1 in IPR. Last year, Nepal was ranked 101st among 125 counties with a score of 4.0. The IPRI is a publication of the Property Right Alliance (PRA) based in Washington, DC. The report is being launched globally on Tuesday. A local think tank for the PRA, Sambriddhi, the Prosperity Foundation, released it in Nepal amid a function. Deependra Chamlagain, project manager of Sambriddhi, said that even though Nepal posted a positive growth this year, it was not “satisfactory” as Nepal was ranked 100th out of 129 countries. “We are at the bottom 20 percent of the quintile which has a low per capita income,” he added. On average, the countries in the top 10 quintile enjoy a per capita income eight times greater than that of countries in the bottom quintile. The IPRI stated that the annual per capita income of the top 20 percent quintile was US$ 38,350.49 while those at the bottom 20 percent had an average annual per capita income of US$ 4,785.37. Since 2008, Nepal’s IPRI has remained at a stagnant 4.0. LP has had trouble increasing due to a decrease in the subcategories of Rule of Law, Political Stability, and Control of Corruption. Gender equality in the property rights is another important aspect of the report. This year, Nepal is ranked 68th with Zambia and Uganda. Like in the past year, the Scandinavian countries have continued to dominate the top positions in the IPRI report. Finland and Sweden tie for the top stop this year with a score of 8.5 out of a possible 10. Other countries that also performed well are Norway (8.2) and Denmark (8.1).
Source:thekathmandupost