Hernando de Soto
Director, Institute for Liberty and Democracy
Lima, Peru
Advisor for the International Year of Microcredit 2005

“Microfinance views poor people as having an immense amount of assets; it is a system that allows those who are traditionally excluded from the formal financial sector to raise capital for a whole range of needs. In cities and villages all over the world, people are engaging in economic activity by applying their talent, enthusiasm and innovation. But what is not available is access to capital, the force that raises the productivity of labor and creates the wealth of nations. The Year of Microcredit 2005 represents a coordinated effort to promote inclusive financial sectors; only if this goal is achieved can the achievements and entrepreneurial spirit of poor people be fully integrated into the global economy.”

Hernando de Soto is currently President of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD) headquartered in Lima, Peru. Between 1988 and 1995, he and the ILD were responsible for some 400 initiatives, laws and regulations that modernized Peru's economic system. He has held appointments as Economist to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; President, Executive Committee of the Copper Exporting Countries Organization; Managing Director, Universal Engineering Corporation; Principal, Swiss Bank Corporation Consultant Group; and Governor, Peru Central Reserve Bank. He also served as President Alberto Fujimori’s Personal Representative and Principal Advisor. He is affiliated with the World Commission on the Global Dimension of Globalization, International Labor Organization, United Nations Development Program Taskforce to Examine Private Resources for Development, and the Expert Group on Development Issues. De Soto is the author of The Other Path (1986), and The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else (2000) in addition to numerous articles.

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