Branding Pakistan

Friday, 19 March 2010

Branding Pakistan

Working Paper for Pakistan International PR Agency (PIPA)

Imaduddin Ahmed

Executive summary

Pakistan suffers economically from an image of being a failed and a terrorist state. Pakistan also suffers from an identity crisis. Fortunately, assessing Pakistan in terms of what it has to offer in terms of culture, tourism, foreign direct investment and exports indicate that it is far from a failed state. The challenge, then, is to communicate this.

Investing in Pakistan’s humanization through personality-based historical narratives pre-dating 1947, propagation of its popular music, literature, and support of its development as a footballing nation will return high dividends in the form of increased tourism revenues and foreign direct investment.

Image and identity dissonance

At the Wagah border between India and Pakistan, crowds congregate on either side to see the border guards mirror each other’s goose-steps and aggressive gestures perfectly while they lower their flags at sunset. On the Pakistani side, a man clad in green, holding the Pakistan flag shouts questioningly to the crowd, "Pakistan ka matlab kya hae?! [What is the meaning of Pakistan?!]" "La Ilah illa Allah! [There is no God but Allah!]" comes the vociferous response. The secular, alcohol-drinking, pork-eating[1] founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, would have disagreed[2].

Headlines in the English-language press and popular blogs, such as “What is a Pakistani man?”, “No priests needed – search of a Pakistani identity”, “Pakistan: In Search of a Pakistani identity”, “Pakistaniat: The Crisis of Identity”, “Revisiting the Pakistani Grand Narrative”, not to mention “The Undefined Equilibrium between Islam and Pakistan”, suggest that the question of a Pakistani identity hinged upon Islam is not as open-and-shut a case as the Wagah border cheers would suggest.

Yet while Pakistanis debate about what Jinnah had intended[3], whether they would prefer a secular or an Islamist state and, to a much lesser extent, whether they should identify themselves as South Asians or as Middle Easterners, the image of Pakistan seems to be defined in the eyes of the world. The only ambivalence shared by Pakistanis and outsiders alike is in which region of Asia Pakistan ought to be categorized, as Google’s most popular searches for ‘Pakistan is’ reveals.

Exhibit 1: Results in google.com search bar when one types in ‘Pakistan is’ –

1. better than India

2. a failed state

3. a terrorist country

4. an acronym

5. in what continent

6. a threat to the United States

7. doomed

8. the problem

9. building robotic army

10. on what continent

Other results found using google.co.uk (UK), google.com.au (Australia), google.co.in (India), google.com.ca (Canada) (no results were found entering ‘Pakistan ist’ or ‘Pakistan est’ in the German or French googles, in order to get perspectives beyond the Commonwealth nations):

· the worst country

· famous for (only UK)

· a mess

· a great country

· in what part of Asia

· a global migraine

· a poor country (only India)

· a dying state (only India)

· falling apart (only Canada)

Clearly, whatever the positives that Pakistan has to offer are drowned out by the overarching image that it is a failed state, a global migraine and a threat to other nations.[4] [5] As a globally integrated economy, the image is hardly conducive to Pakistan’s success in attracting revenue from tourists or financing in the form of foreign direct investments.

Rich in history, the Pakistan government has, to its credit, been lending and selling a number of Pakistan’s historical artifacts to museums around the world[6], but divorced from any narrative, any color, it has failed to communicate that Pakistan is a land of history. It was in the region that is now Pakistan where Alexander the Great’s legendary campaign came to a halt, and one can readily identify his Greek army’s descendants among the green-eyed, brown-haired, fair-skinned Kalash people[7], yet most people would associate the extent of his campaign to ‘India’. By virtue of having lost the name ‘India’, Pakistan has lost a great deal of historical associations.[8]

The Pakistan government has not been unaware of Pakistan’s most recent image problem of being associated with terrorism, as is evident by then president General Pervez Musharraf’s opinion editorial published in The Washington Post in 2004:

‘[M]any non-Muslims to believe wrongly that Islam is a religion of intolerance, militancy and terrorism. It has led increasing numbers of people to link Islam to fundamentalism; fundamentalism to extremism, and extremism to terrorism.’[9]

Because its full name has been ‘The Islamic Republic of Pakistan’ since 1956, and because it is a Muslim-majority country, Pakistan suffers from the same associations that Islam does. Clearly this is why Musharraf felt the need to address Islam’s association with terrorism.

Beyond diagnosis, Musharraf believed he had a marketing plan to counter the image of Pakistan as a terrorist country. The plan: to associate ‘Islam’ and hence ‘Pakistan’ with ‘enlightened moderation’. But how?

‘My idea for untangling this knot is Enlightened Moderation, which I think is a win for all [ . . . ] It is a two-pronged strategy. The first part is for the Muslim world to shun militancy and extremism and adopt the path of socioeconomic uplift. The second is for the West, and the United States in particular, to seek to resolve all political disputes with justice and to aid in the socioeconomic betterment of the deprived Muslim world.’[10]

The ‘strategy’ was a tall-order, abdicating part of the brand-management to the West. For his part, Musharraf failed to live up to governance by enlightened moderation, banning the gang- raped village girl Mukhtaran Mai from leaving the country to share her story, imposing military rule and illegally deposing the chief justice of Pakistan. ‘Enlightened moderation’ became a joke among the Pakistani public, a symbol of the government’s hypocrisy.

What can Musharraf’s attempt teach at re-branding Pakistan teach us? That actions speak louder than words. Below we will assess the current potential for Pakistan’s brand equity by using criteria thought of as critical to assessing a nation’s brand by Professor of Marketing Bernard Simonin at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Jorge De Vincente, Tourism Specialist at Inter American Development Bank.[11] The assessment will shed light on how Pakistan’s government can address its image problem by showing the world what Pakistan is, rather than relying on hollow rhetoric and attempts to demystify Islam.

Pakistan in the realms of public diplomacy, tourism, foreign direct investments and exports

Exhibit 2 is a graphic representation of Pakistan’s substantive performance in Simonin’s and Jorge’s four dimensions of state branding – public diplomacy, tourism, foreign direct investment and exports.

To assess Pakistan’s performance in these four dimensions, I created and weighted a set of criteria to measure brand performance under each dimension, and then scored Pakistan’s performance by each criterion (justifications for the weighting and scores stated within the exhibit). The aggregated weighted sum percentage constituted Pakistan’s performance in each dimension.

With aggregated percentage scores ranging between 45%-70%, there is room for improvement, but the scores certainly do not indicate a failed state. If South Africa was able to reposition itself as a “country alive with possibility” and overcome the negative image left by the apartheid era and the fact that 28% of pregnant women in 2007 had HIV (statistics the South African Department of Health’s), Pakistan too can overcome the stigma of a terrorism and failure.

Exhibit 2: Graphic representation of Pakistan’s substantive performance in the realms of public diplomacy, tourism, foreign direct investment and exports

Exhibit 3: Measuring Pakistan’s brand potential in the public diplomacy, tourism, foreign direct investment and exports spaces


Public diplomacy
Indicator	Score/10 x Weight	Potential full score	Justification for score	Justification for weight
Friendly locals	5x5=25	50	Although the warmth and hospitality of Pakistanis has been publicized[12], the recent shooting of Sri Lankan cricket players on March 3, 2009 in culture capital Lahore and the killing of 5 UN WFP workers in Islamabad on October 5 2009 in Islamabad, as well as a number of other attacks on foreign aid workers by a small but very dangerous and unwelcoming segment of the population result cannot be ignored. Another face of Pakistan that has not gained global attention is how chauvinistic Pakistanis have been even pre-2001, believing in the religious supremacy of Islam. This has resulted in a number of hate crimes against indigenous religious minorities (Aug 1st, 2009, attack against Christians in Gojra, July 1st, 2009 attack against Christians in district Kasur[13]), although seldom has it ever resulted in deaths, let alone massacres, as it has in India.	It is said of interviews that the three most important qualities, in rank order, are affability, availability and ability. The friendliness of locals therefore deserves a weighting of 5; business is much easier when it's done with people you like, and you're surrounded by people who welcome you
Traditional music, visual art, dance, poetry, literature	8x5=40	50	Pakistan is well aware of the 17th century poetry of Punjabi Sufi Bulleh Shah, 13th century ghazaals of Urdu Sufi Amir Khushro, the nation-building poetry of 20th century Muhammad Iqbal (also decorated in India) and the Lenin-prize winning socialist poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. In spite of language barriers, appreciation for their poetry is shared in Iran, India and Russia. The poetry lives on today through the musical performances of popular traditional singers like Abida Parveen, Iqbal Bano and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who gained an amount of popular following before his death in 1997 when he collaborated with English duo Massive Attack. In Nahid Siddiqi and Ahsan Nadeem Pakistan has two excellent but not internationally well-known Kathak dancers, a dance native to the region, but associated more often with India.	The arts are an important metric of the development of a culture
Popular music, art, dance, poetry, literature	9x5=45	50	Pop stars such as Atif Aslam and Ali Zafar have captured a large following in both Pakistan and India (which depends on its movie industry for pop music). Their music videos sound and look good.[14][15] Pakistani literature is also doing well, with authors Mohsin Hamid and Mohammed Hanif both short-listed for the prestigious Man Booker prize in 2007 and 2008 and Daniyal Mueenuddin, who publishing his short stories regularly in The New Yorker. Pakistan does not receive a 9, however, because these contributions to modern culture are not well known beyond expatriate Pakistani and Indian communities. Pakistani artists are selling their wares fairly easily among the ex-pat community, as well as among Indians who are looking for something 'genuine'.	The arts are an important metric of the development of a culture.
Sports	8x5=40	50	Excellent golf, tennis, cricket and squash facilities for people who can afford them. Pakistan has the most world cup and Olympic gold victories of any hockey team, has won two cricket world cups and the two squash players with the highest number of world open and British open golds. Between 1992-2001, the British association of Pakistan was primarily the talent and volatility of Pakistan's cricket team and the vociferous Pakistani cricket fans.[16]	Because world cups are global in nature, sports offer an ideal platform to highlight a nation's talent, convey its passion
National carrier	6x2=12	20	PIA, Pakistan International Airlines is also known as "Perhaps I'll Arrive". The service has good food, but a rustic clientele and it smells near the toilets. It meets the safety standards of North America & Europe, where it operates.	National carriers are ambassadors for their countries. They can easily be substituted, however.
Quality of television shows/movies	7.5x4=30	40	Some avant-garde shows such as Begum Nawazish and Zara Sochiya, which opened discussion on Pakistan's so-called Islamic rape laws.[17] Not a quality movie scene	Indicates development of a country’s media culture
Quality of news reportage	7x5=35	50	One doesn't know whether one is reading the truth when reading newspapers other than Dawn, which is written in English and hence is inaccessible to more than 80% of the population. National-level television news though has become a lot more critical of the government and is playing its duty in democracy, albeit perhaps creating a less stable environment in the short run for business by doing so	Indicates development of a country’s media culture
Equality of standard of living	8.5x1=8.5	10	With a Gini coefficient of 30.6 according to the CIA World Fact Book, Pakistan is surprisingly one of the most equitable countries or regions, more so than the EU at 31 and India at 36.8. Score here calculated by taking Pakistan's rank, dividing it by the number of countries ranked and multiplying it by 10	Weighted only 1 because the Gini coefficient does not capture how some toil under temperatures higher than 40 degrees C as bonded labor while feudal landlords live off of others' labor
Quality of life	2.1x5=10.4	50	Using Pakistan's ranking among 182 countries on the UN Human Development Index (HDI), a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. The index was developed in by the late Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian Nobel economist Amartya Sen. I subtracted Pakistan's ranking from the total number of countries ranked, divided by the number of countries ranked and multiplied it by 10	A comprehensive way to measure quality of life. Quality of life affects the happiness of citizenry. Too much unhappiness can result in terrorism and crime
Social media	10x3=30	30	Vibrant blogging scene, critical of government and highlights successes of Pakistanis	Bloggers are now considered so influential that the Obama administration has basically appointed a Special Envoy to Muslim bloggers (the US Department of State Special Representative to Muslim Communities)[18]
Quality of citizenry	10x5=50	50	The joint lawyers' and media movement of 2007-09 ousted a military dictatorship and reinstated the deposed supreme court chief justice. Rarely has civic participation met such success, and without blood. The success was the result of networks that have existed since 1983 when the Women's Action Forum came into existence, and the liberalized media. Aitzaz Ahsan, lead counsel for the ousted supreme court justice, was voted number 5 on Foreign Policy's list of public intellectuals. Iftikhar Chaudhry, the supreme court chief justice, was awarded Harvard Law School's highest honor, the Medal of Freedom, The National Law Journal named him Lawyer of the Year in 2007 and The Atlantic Monthly named him one of the 27 bravest thinkers	People who knew about Pakistan's bloodless citizens' coup were very impressed and took it to be a sign of the potential of the democratic movements in the 'Middle East'
Government website	6x3=18	30	The flashing features on the websites is a bit tacky, but important macroeconomic indicators are easy to find, the tourism website is available in several languages and lists a calendar of cultural events. Perhaps more could be done, though, to highlight Pakistan's arts	The information mentioned is important when making an investment or tourism decision
Expatriates	3.5x5=17.5	50	Pakistan exports mainly two types of people: professional doctors, engineers and bankers seeking higher wages, or uneducated workers. Some academics and artists are coming to light, but the Pakistani that most people are likely to meet is a corner-shop owner or a taxi-driver	Influences people's impressions abroad of Pakistanis
Dining	9x4=36	40	On April 19, 2001, then British Foreign Secretary adopted chicken tikka masala, a Pakistani dish, as a British dish because it was the most popular.[19] Sometimes called 'Indian cuisine' for the benefit of locals in Europe and North America, potential for increasing Pakistan’s brand equity is unfulfilled	Influences people's impressions abroad of Pakistan
Total score	99.6x57=397.5	570
% score	69.73%

Tourism
Indicator	Score/10 x weight	Potential full score	Justification for score	Justification for weight
Dining	9x3.5=31.5	35	On April 19, 2001, then British Foreign Secretary adopted chicken tikka masala, a Pakistani dish, as a British dish because it was the most popular. [20] Sometimes called 'Indian cuisine' for the benefit of locals in Europe and North America, Pakistani food proves popular at home and abroad. The urban centres and abroad. The urban centres in which foreigners would do business also offer a number of foreign cuisines. The reason why cuisines gets a score of 9 rather than 10 because more could be done to accommodate vegetarians and vegans.	Good food is remembered, and so is bad. One eats three times a day and wants to enjoy the experience, but one doesn't visit a country simply for its food
Historical attractions	7.5x5=37.5	50	Pakistan boasts Mehergarh, a 7,000 year old city which was inhabited for 5,000 years in the arid desert lands in the south west, as well as the 4,500 year old Indus Valley civilization with remnants of cities at Harappa and Moenjadaro, remnants of the 2,000 year old Buddhist Gandharan civilization in the now dangerous north west and 16th and 17th century Mughal architecture in the form of an open palace and mosque in the city of Lahore. In April 2005, Indian nationalist politician LK Advani called the Badshahi mosque[21] "one of the best in the world". Pakistan is also the region where Alexander the Great's campaign came to a halt. Pakistan does not receive a 10, however, because some of its historical sites are in ruin and because not many people know of them.	Historical sites attract tourists and give expatriates of a country something to show when they have visitors, therefore a weighting of 5
Architecture[22]	9x5=45	50	Pakistan has the third largest mosque in the world, the Faisal mosque, designed by a Turk and and funded by Saudis. It also has the fifth largest mosque in the world, the 17th century majestic Badshahi masjid. The new Alhamra Art complex in Lahore, the historic tomb of Shah Rukn-i-Alam, the modern Bhong mosque in Rahim Yar Khan and the Khuda-ki-basti Incremental Develop Scheme in Hyderabad are winners of the Agha Khan International Award for excellent architecture. The beauty of centuries old haveils in old cities cannot be beaten, nor can the grandeur of houses built in 1930s Model Town Lahore or Islamabad. Among other middle-class and upper-class developments, there is a sense of indigenous modern architecture and indigenous gardening in some neighborhoods (Rawalpind in Cantt, Karachi Defence Housing Authority), while kitsch styles come through in others (Lahore Defence Housing Association)	Has a great visual impact on an area, and attracts architectural tourists.
Nightlife	8.5x5=42.5	50	Danka.com.pk, a wiki site that allows people to share events as they happen in the three major cities of Pakistan, makes planning around cultural events possible. Restaurants and food bars are open almost 24/7. Alcohol has to be procured through a contact if one is a resident Pakistani and born a Muslim. A couple of popular dating sites have been targeted in terrorist attacks, but only a couple of times	Without things to do at night, living becomes miserable, hence a 5
Hotels & resorts	5x5=25	50	International standard 4 star hotels, but few resorts	Resorts are important to a number of tourists which Pakistan is not getting because it does not have resorts
Airports	10x1=10	10	Clean, connected to the cities with good roads, easy to use. Pakistan also has the highest airport in the world; the flying experience to it, with its views, and the landing, are a tourist experience in their own right	Not something that matters too much to anyone; Heathrow is criticized for its being customer unfriendly, yet enjoys more traffic than most airports in the world
Shopping	10x5=50	50	Foreign groceries, electronics available. High taxes on large cars, so most cars on the road are small Suzukis or medium sized Toyotas. Competitive advantages: quality and inexpensive clothes, jewelry, pirate copies of software, phones, videos	Tourists and business people need to be able to buy what they want, so 5
Cities/regions	7x3=21	30	Three major cities each w/ its own identity (commercial capital, culture capital and administrative, scenic capital). Many different regions w/ individual tourist attractions (history, beauty, hiking), but doesn't get 8 b/c some of the regions are currently too dangerous to visit b/c of internal conflict	Not the most pressing issue - something that matters for tourists with time
Police/safety & security	1x10=5	50	Police are an obstacle rather than a law enforcement agency, and when the Taliban is bombing army headquarters, security is not a surety for anybody. Pakistan is often listed as the third most dangerous country in the world, after Iraq and Afghanistan. (The Economist titled it the most dangerous place after its former prime minister was assassinated in public in late 2007).	Tourists will not want to worry about dying while holidaying, hence a double-maximum weight
Local transportation	4x2=8	20	Buses will take passengers from city to city, and Daewoo buses ensure a comfortable riding experience - much better than local operators where lecherous passengers ogle at female passengers ("Swatting about" by Imaduddin Ahmed, The Friday Times, November 10, 2006 http://www.imadahmed.com/546312927/swatting-about/.) Domestic flights are satisfactory. Domestic railways are not recommended: 178 passengers have been killed in two accidents in the past five years, and 507 passengers since 1990 in four accidents (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001450.html)	Not important because one can get around in a hired car.
Tap water	2x5=10	50	Must be boiled to be drinkable	Clean tap water is considered very important in many Western countries
Toilet hygiene	7x2=14	20	Those provided in offices and hotels offer better hygiene facilities (hand-held bidets) than most US/UK toilets. However, the hygiene of toilets in public parks and low-level restaurants can be somewhat worst than those in the US and UK	A low priority in Anglo-Saxon countries
Diseases	5x5=25	50	Visitors must take precautions against malaria, hepatitis & tuberculosis	Impacts desirability to visit country
Customs personnel	7x1=7	10	"Anything is possible in Pakistan" - customs officials need not be an obstruction for a small bribe. Will not extort vast sums of money upon a visitor's exit, as is known to be the case in several Central Asian countries.	Not the first thing one thinks of when visiting a country
Scenery[23]	7x5=35	50	Pakistan's northern areas have been said to be the most beautiful areas by tourists. Pakistan boast the greatest altitudinal diversity of any country: from 0m above sea-level at its beaches to the second highest mountain, K2. Loggers, however, threaten the natural beauty. Only 4% of Pakistan has tree coverage, compared with the world average of 25% according to The Friday Times columnist Khaled Ahmed	Scenery attracts tourists
Activities	9x5=45	50	World's highest polo ground at Shandur patronized by Prince Charles for his second honeymoon, hiking in northern areas, at K2, ruins, palaces and museums to visit throughout the Punjab and northern Pakistan. Bowling allies, cinemas and theme parks available. Danka.com.pk, a wiki equivalent of TimeOut, informs the internet-using public what cultural activities are happening each day of the week in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. Late night quality dining at food stands almost 24/7	Tourists want activities to pursue
Official tourism website	7x3=21	30	Gives a fair bit of information	Tourists will check this as a reference point
Total score	115x70.5 =432.5	705
% score	61.35%

Foreign direct investment
Indicator	Score/10 x weight	Potential full score	Justification for score	Justification for weight
Starting a business	5.4x2.5=13.4	25	World Bank Group report[24]. Given that this is a comparative audit with other countries, I have computed Pakistan's score out of 10 by subtracting its ranking from the total number of countries, dividing that value by the total number of countries and then multiplying it by 10	FDI usually involves investment in a going concern, rather than starting a business from scratch
Protecting investors	8.5x5=42.6	50	See 'starting a business'	If investors do not have protection, they will not invest
Stock exchange performance	5x5=25	50	The Karachi Stock Exchange was ranked in 2002 as the best performing stock exchange in the world, and Pakistan was experiencing high rates of growth (about 7%) until 2007. However, since then, with Pakistan's political instability and depletion of foreign reserves, investing in Pakistan has looked less attractive. A portfolio of cement, finance and energy stocks put together expected a return of 4% in a two month span	If there are not opportunities to invest, investors will not
Dealing with construction permits	4.3x4=17	40	See 'starting a business'	As going concerns expand, they may want to construct new businesses. (They may also want to just acquire existing office space/factories)
Registering property	3.5x3.5=12.2	35	See 'starting a business'	If the investment owns the work space, this will affect the investors
Employing workers	2x3=6	30	See 'starting a business'	Investors will be indirectly affected
Getting credit	6.7x0=0	0	See 'starting a business'	Not an issue since the foreign investor is providing the credit
Paying taxes	2.2x5=10.9	50	See 'starting a business'	Investors will be affected
Tradeshows/conferences	4x1=4	10	These happen and are well publicized by the news and government banners. The quality of academic/issues based conferences is mediocre, and not a lot of business development comes from anything other than direct-contacts	Not very relevant to business-development in the region
Police/safety & security	1x5=2	50	Police are an obstacle rather than a law enforcement agency, and when the Taliban is bombing army headquarters, security is not a surety for anybody. Pakistan is often listed as the third most dangerous country in the world, after Iraq and Afghanistan. (The Economist titled it the most dangerous place after its former prime minister was assassinated in public in late 2007).	Operations can be impacted by criminality, but investor protection considers the bulk of the risk to investors
Literacy	5x5=25	50	Literacy is 50%, mainly among urban dwellers	Impacts means of marketing
Quality of higher education	8x5=40	50	English is a pre-requisite for working in many businesses, and most employees who work in an air-conditioned environment hold a Pakistani Master's degree, or a BA degree from the Lahore University of Management Sciences, which has been winning the world Model UN competitions in the past four years. The quality of education for engineers and doctors is also very good, and attracts a number of students from Central Asia and Africa. A number of business employees also have British or American degrees	Impacts quality of human capital
Diseases	5x4=20	40	Visitors must take precautions against malaria, hepatitis & tuberculosis	Impacts health of employees, as well as desirability to visit country
Closing a business	6.9x3=20.8	30	See 'starting a business'	Not so important since one can walk away if there are great financial losses
Trading across borders	5.75x5=28.7	50	See 'starting a business'	A country becomes more attractive to invest in if products/services can be exported from it
Enforcing contracts	1.4x5=6.8	50	See 'starting a business'	Vital to doing business
Total score	69.2x58.5 =261.2	585
% score	44.66%

Exports
Indicator	Score/10 x weight	Potential full score	Justification for score	Justification for weight
Quality	8x5=40	50	Highly regarded for exports of clothes (Ralph Lauren announces 'Made in Pakistan' on its shirts). Salt products could be better.	If quality is low, nation will be regarded poorly
Quantity	3.1x5=15.3	50	Ranked 67/222 countries or regions by the CIA world fact book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html. Divided ranking by total number of nations/regions and multiplied by 10	If quantity of exports is low, nation will hardly be noticed
Diversity	5x4=20	40	Cement, some Islamic finance, textiles and mainly agricultural goods - not particularly well diversified	Diversity hedges risk against one set of industries being impacted by global economic events
High or low value add	3x5=15	50	Low value add exports	Value add is an indicator of GDP. Low value add means less profit is being generated than if there were higher value add
Total score	19.1x19=90.3	190
% score	47.53%


Public diplomacy	69.73%
Tourism	61.35%
Foreign direct investment	44.66%
Exports	47.53%

Recommendations

‘Today, branding is all about connecting with ‘consumers’ on the basis of human like characteristics and emotional values,’ write Simonin and Jorge, as they discuss brand personality. In its past attempts to link Pakistan with history, the government of Pakistan has failed to connect consumers with stories behind the artifacts it exports. They have lacked personality, they have not evoked emotions from their viewers. This is why dry artifacts in museums have stayed in people’s memories, and few associate Pakistan as a land rich in history. The government of Pakistan should look to how it can change the museum experience for people who view its artifacts, by immersing them in a more tangible environment, with stories of personalities. The government of Pakistan should also consider providing grants to credible historians with novel-like story-telling abilities, like William Dalrymple, to popularize Pakistan’s history. The stories can then be brought back to museums.

Pervez Musharraf attempted unsuccessfully to tell the world that Pakistan had adopted an enlightened moderation outlook. Yet his actions contradicted his claim. Going forward, the executive must respect the rule of law, the supreme court’s sovereignty, and the media’s independence. Pakistan’s recent people’s movement to ensure this end must be communicated to the world as a citizen’s movement for rule of law and democracy, and not just the bravery of a few men.

Vis-à-vis sports, while Pakistan’s core competencies are cricket, hockey and squash, football is fast gaining popularity on the streets. Football is cheaper to play than cricket, hockey or squash. Televised football world-cups are also more popularly watched around the world. Given its sports talent, a Pakistani team should perform well given a large enough talent pool and the right sort of training. Achievements on the football field will boost Pakistan’s image in the world’s eyes. The Pakistani government may want to consider setting up football academies around the country as an after-school activity in the cool evenings to develop a pool of talent ready for a world-cup within 20 years. The activity will be a wholesome alternative to attendance at mosques with chauvinistic-filled speech.

In the assessment above, Pakistan would have scored 74% for tourism were it not for diseases and for security, and it would have scored 74% in public diplomacy if locals were ‘friendly’. The government must step-up its efforts to eradicate tuberculosis and malaria. On the security and attitude of locals fronts, besides combating the Taliban as the government is, it would do well to keep Musharraf’s idea of promoting ‘enlightened moderation’, but whereas his approach was didactic, the government must take an illustrative approach.

The government should provide avenues for promoting Pakistan’s popular and traditional secular and Sufi cultures abroad: it should sponsor creative-writing competitions for short stories, help Pakistan’s most popular music stars get airtime on globally popular TV channels such as MTV, arrange for them to play at foreign exhibition halls, such as the Royal Albert Hall. In so doing, it must not abdicate brand management to just a few sole stars, in case they decide to project an image not aligned with the desired image Pakistan wants to project. Pakistan has a critical mass of music talent to able to diversify itself. It must return to the image it enjoyed in the 1960s of being a ‘hip’ place to be, where world-class jazz musicians would perform at bars and hotels in Karachi. While legalizing alcohol for all may not be a political possibility for now, projecting an image of ‘cool’, ‘sexy’, ‘deep’ and ‘soulful’ will ensure that Pakistanis at home and abroad will have an image to emulate that is not combative. A country’s images, as this passage shows, impacts individual identity:

'Cricket has brought me to Pakistan. I can watch it, others can watch it, the whole world can see Pakistan on the field - the country is no longer an abstract concept. Through televised cricket, I belong to a tribe that fights like tigers when cornered, is excitingly volatile during the good times and enjoys a truly wicked amount of raw talent. My tribe is sexy. Cricket asserts my identity, whether I am in Pakistan or not.'[25]

With the new sexy, soulful, secular and Sufi images in mind will morph a new sense of self- identity at the individual level, and the secular or Sufi image abroad will be reinforced. The result will be a virtuous perpetual cycle, and the money invested in promoting Pakistan’s cultural image abroad will be returned in the form of tourism revenues and more foreign direct investment.

[1] “Conversations with Jinnah’s djinn” by Zia Haq, The Hindustan Times blog, August 23, 2009 http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/they-call-me-muslim/2009/08/23/conversations-with-jinnah%E2%80%99s-djinn/

[2] ‘The Pakistan Jinnah envisioned was neither a narrow-minded theocracy nor a feudal tyranny or martial dictatorship, but a democratic polity governed by law and equal opportunities for all [ . . . T]ragically, he was mortally ill and could barely continue to work. He could do little more than to articulate his secular and liberal ideals to his Muslim followers, many of whom found them impossible to comprehend. For most of his last pain-filled year, Governor General Jinnah lacked the strength to help Pakistan create and securely establish the vital democratic institutions it so desperately needed.’ “Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India” by Stanley Wolpert, Oxford University Press, 2006

[3] For a discussion on the relevance on the matter, read “Does it matter” by Gul Bukhari, Pk Politics, May 2, 2009 http://gul.pkpolitics.com/2009/05/02/does-it-matter/

[4] The popular search that ‘Pakistan is better than India’ highlights, most probably, that Pakistanis identify themselves in terms of what they are not – Indians – and hence have to compare themselves to what they would have been had Jinnah not founded the state of Pakistan in 1947. The search that ‘Pakistan is a great country’ shows that many Pakistanis feel pride for being Pakistani. The search that ‘Pakistan is an acronym’ shows that people are curious to learn the roots of Pakistan’s name

[5] Pakistan is indeed an acronym, standing for the northern units of India which were envisioned to constitute the Muslim state: ‘P’ stands for ‘Punjab’, ‘A’ stands for Afghania, ‘K’ for Kashmir, ‘S’ for Sindh and ‘-istan’ for Balochistan. ‘Pak’ also means pure, and ‘-istan’ means land of, so Pakistan also means ‘Land of the Pure’.

[6]

Image of the Buddha from the 1^st-3^rd century on display at the Musée Guimet, Paris

[7]

Image hosted on http://www.worldhistoryjournal.com/2008/04/kalash-lost-people-of-alexander-great.html

[8] Muhammad Ali Jinnah had not initially meant to drop ‘India’, a name with far greater history and brand equity than ‘Pakistan’. According to Tufts University historian Ayesha Jalal in her book The Sole Spokesperson, Jinnah had initially envisioned a new innovation to the craft of state-making. India was to be bifurcated into a Hindustan (for Hindus) and a Pakistan (for Muslims), with both federations organized by legislations. Above them would be an executive which would be equally constituted of Hindustan's and Pakistan's ruling parties.

[9] “A Plea for Enlightened Moderation” by Pervez Musharraf, The Washington Post, June 1, 2004 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5081-2004May31.html

[10] “A Plea for Enlightened Moderation” by Pervez Musharraf, The Washington Post, June 1, 2004 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5081-2004May31.html

[11] Bernard Simonin and Jorge De Vincente. 2005. "How to Structure and Manage the State Branding Process," Advertising Express, July.

[12] From The Way of the Pathans by James W Spain (Oxford University Press, 1972), to the remembrances of Sikh devotees ("Sikh devotees recall Pakistani hospitality", SikhNet, November 21, 2005 http://www.sikhnet.com/news/sikh-devotees-recall-pakistani-hospitality), to the hospitality recorded by Indian cricket fans ("Can India match Pakistan's grace and hospitality" by Sambit Bal, Cricinfo.com, February 17, 2005, http://www.cricinfo.com/columns/content/story/144627.html?cmp=viral),

[13] Human Rights Commission of Pakistan website http://www.hrcp-web.org/fact.asp

[14] Ali Zafar’s music video Sajania http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZKfds1WoxI

[15] “Search and thou shalt find" by Imaduddin Ahmed, The Friday Times, June 23, 2006

[16] “Playing to the homesick crowd" by Imaduddin Ahmed, The Friday Times, March 24, 2006 http://www.imadahmed.com/462362346/playing-to-the-homesick-crowd

[17] “Pakistan's charade debate" by Imaduddin Ahmed, The New York Times, September 3, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/07/opinion/07iht-edahmed.2728590.html

[18] See my upcoming interview with Special Representative Farah Pandith

[19] Robin Cook's Chicken Tikka Masala speech, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/apr/19/race.britishidentity

[20] Robin Cook's Chicken Tikka Masala speech, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/apr/19/race.britishidentity

[21]