Political instability remains the hallmark of Italian politics. Spain continues to get rocked by blasts. Brazil sees no end in sight to its economic woes. Yet, the image of these countries is still positive in the eyes of the global community. What is it that tarnishes the image of Pakistan?
AS the Made in Pakistan fair in New Delhi drew to a close, one conclusion could be safely drawn, that the Indians hold as much fascination for Pakistani products as the Pakistanis hold for Indian goods. However, this is where the similarity ends.
India is perceived as the emerging economic tiger in the world thanks to its excellent projection of its strengths at home and abroad. The Indians have the ability to present their culture as an exotic oriental mystique, their people as hard-working and progressive, and their products as pieces of art and science, that, too, with an affordable price tag.
It is no wonder that the West takes India as an economy that has taken off, while Pakistan, at least to the Western eye, is still struggling to break free from its religious and political woes. That perhaps explains why despite having a fairy-tale turnaround in our macro economic indicators, foreign investment has been on a steady decline.
When you consider that the economy is expected to grow at six per cent, per capita income is supposed to touch $600, debt repayment is ahead of schedule, the stock market has for the first time in history broken the 5000-point barrier, inflation is not even double-digit and interest rates are consistently declining, the image that comes to your mind is of a country that would be perceived as an investment haven and should attract foreign investors magnetically. The reality, however, is there for all to see.
The fact is that exports were down 15 per cent in February, and Pakistan attracted only $150.5 million of foreign investment in the first four months of the current fiscal, decreasing by 55 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year during which Pakistan had attracted $406.6 million of foreign investment.
If things go at the same pace for the rest of this fiscal, analysts fear that investment inflow could be below well below $500 million for the whole year, which will put pressure on the country’s economic growth. The worst-hit cases are investments from Britain and the UAE. Pakistan attracted $162.8 million and $82.6 million from the two countries respectively during July-October, 2002. However, it only got $18.4 million from Britain and $22.4 million dollars from the UAE during the same period during the current fiscal year.
The question that arises in one’s mind is that what more a country can do to become attractive for the investors. The answer is simple; it must change its image, which leads us to the million-dollar question of what this image entails, and how to go about transforming the country’s image. Here are a few tips:
CREATING COUNTRY BRANDS: People basically buy images, be it in terms of products, persons or countries. Images, if positive, create emotional bonds between the image and the perceiver. If negative, they severely hurt the feel-good factor, and force the people to shift their focus elsewhere. From tourism to banking, and from engineering to consumer goods, the word of mouth about investing in Pakistan remains at best that of caution, and, at worst, a strict warning not to touch the country even if it happens to be the last place left on the universe.
Changing negative perceptions is tough but not impossible. Recently there have been examples of several countries, personalities and institutions who have done exactly that. We are all privy to the power that image-makers and spin masters wield in American politics and have all heard stories of how Charles Saatchi’s brilliant advertising copy helped Margaret Thatcher assume power in the UK.
Indeed, governments now routinely endeavour to transform themselves and operate as corporate entities. Malaysia Inc. is one example. Likewise, the $42 million India Development Initiative announced with the Union Budget of India in 2003 aims at marketing India and the economic opportunities it offers to the world through aggressive use of their missions abroad.
Similarly, the World Bank has recently been promoting a kinder, gentler image through television spots revolving around their anti-poverty corporate theme. But while we recognize that country branding is key, it is an extremely difficult, specialized job that often entails juggling with the science and art of grappling with nebulous ideas for concrete objectives.
At the moment there is no brand called ‘Pakistan’. What we do have are disjointed, largely negative fragments of our country’s attributes, which form the basis for the world to judge us. One must hasten to add that these negative images are, unfortunately, ingrained in our own minds as well, hence making our task of convincing others that much more difficult.
What has created this negative halo around our country which is so difficult to dislodge? Does Pakistan has a unique image problem? Let us take the first question and analyze what has created this negativity about our country.
POLICY INSTABILITY: A country which is politically unstable and where the government keeps changing every couple of years generally scares off people commercially. Actually it is not the change of government but that of policy which creates the image of an inconsistent business environment. There are many examples in the world where governments change frequently without really creating negative perceptions around the world — Italy being one example where some fifty administrations have graced the office in the last four decades without it being viewed as a country too unstable and too uncertain to be entertained commercially, socially and culturally. Thus, it is not political instability, but policy instability which scares off investors.
LAW & ORDER SITUATION: This is the biggest image spoiler, be it the tourism industry, the export development arena or the foreign investment sector. Unfortunately the last few years have seen aggravation on this count. Being surrounded by volatile neighbours and being constantly engaged in fighting alleged terrorists, Pakistan is increasingly viewed as a landmine of sorts.
This may be partly true, but then it is also true of several other countries, including Spain. It is not just the recent bomb blast that killed hundreds, but many lesser-but-regular blasts in Spain, which, if highlighted on the media, will easily outdo such incidents in Pakistan. Since these incidents are not sensationalized by the media, they have not dented the image of the country.
Every country not only needs to deal with an effective response strategy against its negative image, but also must highlight its strengths in such a positive way that the perceiver is ready to overlook its problems due to its positive offerings — India being a case in point. A country’s image can be based on any of the following factors:
TOURISM: Often the most visible aspect of nation-branding, tourism is usually also the biggest spender and the most competent marketing force. But it only presents a part of the picture, and needs careful alignment with the other channels of communication in order to achieve its full potential as the ‘flagship’ for branding the nation, city or region. South Africa and India are examples of creating mystique brands out of this industry.
South African Tourism Vision has competitively marketed the country internationally as a preferred destination, for the sustainable economic and social empowerment of all South Africans, and to make tourism the leading economic sector in the country. Today, South African Tourism markets the country’s scenic beauty, diverse wildlife, kaleidoscope of cultures and heritages, the great outdoors, sports and adventure opportunities, eco-tourism as well as conference facilities.
Marketing is undertaken via SA Tourism’s international offices in strategic markets worldwide — London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Sydney, New York, Tokyo etc. South African Tourism participates in travel shows, presents workshops for members of the travel trade, produces a variety of promotional material and initiates and coordinates marketing campaigns to create a positive climate for effective marketing of South Africa’s many excellent tourism products.
For this purpose South African Tourism also arranges INDABA, the largest annual tourism market in Africa, as an opportunity for the South African travel industry to present its products to the international market.
Pakistan has discovered the benefits of place marketing, using similar techniques to market Basant in Lahore, but needs to do much more aggressive marketing for its unique and majestic northern areas to really create a national brand based on tourism.
EXPORT BRANDS: A powerful, distinctive, broad-based and appealing national brand is the most valuable gift which a country or region can give to its exporters: think what ‘Made in Japan’ does for electronics, or ‘Made in Italy’ for fashion. Today, branded exports form one of the most potent ways of building and sustaining national image. Despite having unique products like cotton and rice, Pakistan has yet to develop a brand in any of these categories. The only brand created by them was a decade ago when a football made in Sialkot named Tango became the official football purchased by FIFA for the World Cup. Unfortunately, such fame could not be sustained through a strategic media campaign.
In the recent ‘Made in Pakistan’ fair in Delhi the tremendous response received from the Indians towards Pakistani products is an indication of how little effort has been made by our industry and government to create a national brand. Over 40,000 visitors are estimated to have visited the trade show, which was the first of its kind, and businessmen were thrilled that their wares had completely sold out. From surma (kohl) to tyres, motorcycles, fabrics, spices and furniture, many of the exhibitors received proposals for permanent distribution in India.
For most of the around 75 exhibitors, the nine-day show was very rewarding. Many stayed on in India for a few more days to firm up business deals. The experience was beyond our expectations,” said Mohammed Amin Khatri, Director of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
“Around six to seven of the exhibitors sold out their stocks totally well before the last day, while some offered discounts too as the response was very good,” Khatri said. He disclosed that good business enquiries have been received by several exhibitors. Many of these enquiries are expected to translate into concrete tie-ups for distributors, and even joint ventures in the coming months.
It was not just clothes, furniture, onyx and spices from Pakistan that did good business, If the crowd at the kebab stall of Bundoo Khan of Karachi was any indication, Pakistani flavours proved a big draw for the visitors, many of whom made repeat visits to taste the delicacies — yet another case for promoting the nation brand.
FOREIGN & DOMESTIC POLICY: Nations are also judged by the part their leaders play in foreign and domestic affairs, and this activity, just like every other, needs to be performed with sensitivity to the strategic imperatives of the brand. When policy is in synergy with other channels, there are few faster ways to establish a country’s position in the global community. Singapore and Dubai are examples of how leadership and effective foreign and domestic policy can convert a desert like Dubai into an oasis, and one of the smallest countries, Singapore, into one of the richest and the most powerful economies in the world.
CULTURE & HERITAGE: Governments which treat growth as a purely economic issue run the risk of developing a two-dimensional brand image, of interest only to investors, tax exiles and currency speculators. Culture, heritage and sports provide the third dimension, giving places richness, dignity, trust and respect abroad, and quality of life at home. Countries like Brazil have an exotic image of dazzling footballers like Zico, Carlos and Ronaldo combined with Samba dance and Copa Cabana restaurants to create an image of fun, festivity and sports. Despite deep economic problems, a consistent feeding of this image of Brazil has retained its stature as an attractive place for foreigners.
PEOPLE: One ‘channel of communication’ that performs the huge task of communicating the complexities and contradictions of a country to the global marketplace is its people. When each ordinary citizen — not just diplomats, media stars and politicians — becomes a passionate ambassador of his or her home country or city, positive change comes in sooner rather than latter. This perhaps is the weakest area in our attempts to build up a positive image of Pakistan.
Country bashing is a national pastime. There is always this derisive attitude found in the general public, whether at home or abroad, of downplaying their strengths and writing off the future of the country. In the recent Pakistan-India cricket matches, this was obvious. While the Indians took the defeat of their team in their stride, every time Pakistan lost, most Pakistanis in the stadium and outside it, started degrading the team and blamed them for match-fixing and corruption. When the people of the country are themselves not proud of their assets and stars, it is very unrealistic to expect outsiders not to snigger and ridicule every attempt made by the country to proclaim that things have changed for the better.
CONCLUSION: What is needed is an integrated strategy that may translate the desire to develop a country brand into an action plan, outlining a workable strategy to overhaul the image of the country. This requires a Malaysian-style media campaign, which is based on the ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’ theme. The campaign must emphasize the new peace, safety and stability factors in its positioning.
The strategy must also include filling up the foreign missions with expert lobbyists who can work on getting the right message in the foreign broadcast and print media by influencing the opinion leaders to speak on the change in the environment in Pakistan.
Most of all, it should involve developing a respect for the national identity and integrity through a national patriotic campaign where this deep-rooted habit of Pakistan-bashing is rooted out of the system. If 140 million people start proudly proclaiming that their country had shrugged off the past, and was now on its way to progress and prosperity, surely their loud chant will soon make foreigners look back with surprise and start noticing the many attractive offerings of the country with renewed interest. This may eventually lead to a reversal in the declining image of the country.
Political instability remains the hallmark of Italian politics. Spain continues to get rocked by blasts. Brazil sees no end in sight to its economic woes. Yet, the image of these countries is still positive in the eyes of the global community. What is it that tarnishes the image of Pakistan? 
