Branding of a nation

LAHORE: Pakistan needs to change its image globally and choose on how it wants to be known in a competitive environment, where nations build and manage their reputation to cultivate international business.

It needs to decide on being known as a trading hub like Dubai or Singapore, a manufacturing giant like China, or a tourist destination like Spain or Thailand.

Ours is a unique country. Pakistan has the potential to excel as a trading hub due to its strategic location; as manufacturing base for exports around the world through shortest routes, and as a tourist attraction for religious tourism (Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhist), mountaineering and scenic beauty up north and in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Regrettably, the country branding of Pakistan will not be possible in the absence of a committed leadership that is prepared not to distract from a solid purpose, and allocate all resources to achieve the purpose with honesty and full transparency.

As far as branding is concerned even our businesses have been very slow in realising the power of brands. Only in the past two decades have we seen textile brands making their mark even in domestic markets.

Outside Pakistan, the textile brands depend entirely on the diaspora of the sub-continent. We have not made brands for western culture. Those having launched their brands successfully are reaping the benefits. Brands have to be fully trusted by the consumers.

Any minor flaw in fabric, colour, stitching and design has to be out rightly rejected to create full trust in the quality. The brands sell at up to 20 time’s similar non-branded products that seemingly are of the same quality, but lack the trust of users.

Country branding is not different from product branding, where the same principles are followed. When we talk about anti-dandruff shampoo, only one brand comes to the mind as its deliverance has created trust among users.

In the same way, when we talk about global trading hubs, the top name that comes to mind is that of Singapore. It achieved phenomenal success from a humble beginning in the 1960s.

Brands are built by architects. Global leaders that architected their country branding include Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Lee Kuan Yu of Singapore, Mahatir Muhammad of Malaysia. These leaders were fully committed to the path they wanted their country to take. Singapore after independence decided under Lee to make the country a trading hub of the world.

From that day onwards, the Singapore government diverted all its resources to attain this purpose. The government upgraded the infrastructure including roads, port facilities, and airport.

It attracted foreign investment, but only for this purpose. The FDI for industry was never encouraged nor facilitated. The Chinese nurtured manufacturing hubs the same way and attracted huge foreign investment from leading multinational corporations.

Nation and its leaders have to have a clear vision as to where they exactly want to take the country. It is a sad reality that no such vision is available in Pakistan.

Majority of the people say that the purpose of independence from India was to provide a prosperous life to the Muslims of the subcontinent. But stop short of how to achieve that goal.

There is no consensus; some want Pakistan to be an industrial hub, others want it to be an agricultural one, while some want it to be a trading hub because of its ideal geographic location. Pakistan cannot be branded in such confusion.

After 74 years of independence, Pakistan still lacks reliable energy, power and infrastructure needed for industrialisation; we have not developed even a single certified genetic seed, and our ports, roads or airports are in shambles, unable to handle trade for a country aspiring to become a trading hub.

Singapore stayed focused with its vision, and was never distracted by other opportunities that came its way. It increased the capacity of handling cargo from 4.3 million tonnes to 570 million tonnes. It has an infrastructure for handling trade that is much superior to that even in the United States.

This focused approach has paid dividends to Singapore, where the per capita income was at the same level in 1965 as in Pakistan. Today, Singapore is one of the richest countries in the world with per capita income exceeding over $50,000 compared with $1,500 in Pakistan.

Whether it is product branding or country branding, honesty and transparency is very important. Singapore is ranked top as the country with almost no corruption by the Transparency International, while Pakistan is among the most corrupt countries. Singaporeans operate their government with nothing to hide and honesty has paid rich dividends to them. Non-transparency has landed the masses and governments in Pakistan in trouble.

It is high time that as patriots, we come up with a clear vision for future and allocate all resources and energies to achieve it. We should not act like a dying man, who at his deathbed wishes that life would have been better had he pursued a different path. We as a nation would have no time to repent if the downfall continued.