I think there are two factors. One is the rule of law and the sanctity of contracts.
The other is Christianity or, where it has sufficient numbers, Judaism. Christianity and Judaism instill the ideas of freedom, fundamental equality, justice, private ownership, and decent consideration for others.
Some of these principles are found in other cultures. The Chinese, for instance, have traditionally been businessmen. But they have always had to cope with the whims of emperors or warlords. They have no traditional sense of inalienable rights or inalienable freedom.
Japanese, Chinese, and others from different backgrounds than ours have proved their ability to make capitalism work to a degree, but its not yet clear whether they will be able to establish societies that will not, in the end, crush the entrepreneurial spirit of innovation or confiscate the goods that capitalists have earned.
the point that de soto is making is not that other countries are less entreprenurial but rather that they have no capital. the second point he makes is that they have no capital because they have not capitalized their assets.