In the economic sphere, the policies advocated by nationalist parties were strongly in favour of private enterprise development. As far as the state was concerned, its role was simply to provide opportunities for private investment, or to establish projects that would ultimately be sold to the private sector. Nationalist parties were also supportive of private land ownership since it was believed that if the population had their own land would be more likely to feel a love for their country and protect it from potential enemies, The other major policy of nationalist political parties noted by Wichit was their support and promotion of indigenous customs and traditions This was said to be particularly important since