File photo shows the construction of on going metro rail project Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune

It has performed better than neighbours India and Pakistan

Bangladesh has been ranked 39th among the 100 most valuable nation brands in the world in a recent report.

It has performed better than neighbours India and Pakistan.

The country’s brand value has risen by 24% and stands at $257 billion in 2018.

Brand Finance, a London based brand valuation and strategy consultancy farm in its “Nation Brands 2018.”

The global consultancy farm measures a country’s brand value based on various socio-economic factors and the country’s image and business environment in attracting investment.

According to the report, published on October 10, Bangladesh’s brand value increased to $257 billion in 2018 from $208 billion in 2017.

The country ranked 39th out of a hundred countries. It has secured a better position than last year when it was 44th.

Topping the table as the world’s most valuable nation brand, the USA’s brand value has gone up 23% over the past year to US$25.9 trillion. The US economy has expanded at a speedy pace with growth expected to continue in the months to come.

China maintains its spot as the second most valuable nation brand, with brand value up 25% to US$12.8 trillion. China performs well despite the prospects of a protracted trade war with the US, displaying the established robustness of the Chinese economy.

The consolidation of world-class Chinese brands such as Huawei and Alibaba have contributed to this growth in status, the report said.

Among the South Asian countries, India ranked 109th with value of $2159 billion, followed by Pakistan at 51, and Sri Lanka at 61.

Issues such as corporate ethics, quality of life and security, judicial system, corruption, use of talent, training and education, market development, doing business, research and development use of technology, investor protection and infrastructure and taxation regulation were taken into consideration for valuation.

Why the rise in brand value

Safety standard improvement in the Bangladesh RMG sector, the government’s political vision and aggressive investment in infrastructural development have helped improve the brand value as well as ranking, opined economists and industry people.

On the other hand, it has given recognition to the prosperity of Bangladesh.

Women apparel workers who make up more than 80% of workforce employed in the export-oriented clothing industries empowered downtrodden segment of the society, and helped brighten the country's image globally Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune

“Definitely, improvement of safety standards in the Bangladesh apparel sector has increased the branding and image of Bangladesh to the global retailers. Development partners, buyers and brands are satisfied with the improvement,” Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Senior Vice President Faruque Hassan told the Dhaka Tribune.

Completion of safety inspection by the Accord on Fire and Building Safety and Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety is a great success, which has restored buyers confidence on Bangladesh, said Hassan, also managing director of Giant Group.

If the calculation was done based on only apparel sector instead of all sectors, the valuation and brand raking would be much higher, he said.

“Bangladesh has complete the restructuring of RMG sector successfully. While it has tackled Rohingya crises with humanity. This two factors acted in favor of Bangladesh in improving the nation brand value,” economist Hossain Zillur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune.

Retaining RMG export growth is another indicator that helped achieve a better position, said Rahman, the executive chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre.

Bangladesh’s export earnings from the apparel sector registered an 8.76% growth reaching $30.61 billion in FY18.

“Political vision and long-term planning in infrastructure development have been taken into consideration. There has been an improvement in the stability of government in affecting business decisions,” Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) research director Khondaker Golam Moazzem said. The government’s political vision is appreciated by the business people, said Moazzem.

The government has launched a good number of visionary projects such as establishing 100 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to attract investment from home and abroad, and $50 billion export earnings from RMG sector by 2021, among others. While it wants to generate 40,000MW electricity by 2030.

“Though it is slow, we have seen improvement in infrastructure and logistics. But due to lack of efficiency, and institutional good governance, we cannot take advantage of it,” said Moazzem.

In attracting investment from home and abroad, political parties have to include these issues in their election manifesto and implement them when they are in power, said the economist.

On the other hand, simplification of business process and increasing ease of doing business is also a must along with reforms in regulations, he added.

“Business environment is not well developed in the country, which lowers the profit margin. So the government should take steps to reduce the cost of doing business to increase the brand value by attracting foreign direct investment,” said Moazzem.