Kjørven embraced de Soto, kept NRD at arm’s length

Former State Secretary Olav Kjørven undermined the position of the private firm Norway Registers Development in a dispute with the famous Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto over a NOK50 million Norwegian aid-financed property rights reform project in Tanzania. The project is a demonstration project for a high-level commission on land rights, co-chaired by de Soto. Development Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnson is a member of the commission and Kjørven, who is now a Director at UNDP, is the focal point for the commission in the UN agency.