Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
Held in the UAE Pavilion at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Brand Finance unveiled key insights from the latest analysis of five-year trends in perceptions of nation brands captured by the Global Soft Power Index at a presentation, followed by a panel discussion on Soft Power in Africa.
The session was attended by the Minister of Commerce, Trade, and Industry of the Republic of Zambia, His Excellency Chipoka Mulenga MP, Chairman and CEO of Brand Finance, David Haigh, Chairman of Brand Africa, Thebe Ikalafeng, and Acting CEO of Brand South Africa, Sithembile Ntombela.
The UAE adopts soft power as an effective tool to highlight the achievements and successes achieved throughout its development journey. During 2023, the UAE came ahead of countries of the region and the Arab world in the Global Soft Power Index, a step that reflects the positive influence and reputation the UAE enjoys.
Brand Finance’s Global Soft Power Index is the industry’s largest research study into perceptions of nation brands, surveying opinions of more than 150,000 respondents across over 100 markets in all 193 member states of the United Nations.
The analysis of five years’ worth of data highlights the rapidly growing importance of building positive "Business and Trade" perceptions amidst ongoing economic challenges. The “Strong and Stable Economy” attribute has emerged as the primary driver of a nation’s “Reputation and Influence” – key building blocks of Soft Power, while “Products and Brands the World Loves” and “Easy to Do Business In” also secure top positions.
The importance of "Business and Trade" attributes has contributed to faster growth in Soft Power for large nations like the US and China (+3.0 average year-on-year score change in the top 50) compared to smaller nations (-1.3 for nation brands ranked 51-193).
Over the past five years, Middle Eastern nations, which have made significant efforts in nation brand building, have seen the strongest improvement in their Soft Power, including Qatar (up 10 ranks), UAE (up eight ranks), and Saudi Arabia (up eight ranks) which all show notable improvements in International Relations and Business & Trade perceptions.
Turkey (up five ranks) has experienced growth in "Familiarity," as well as "Culture and Heritage," as its nation brand promotion has a strong tourism focus.
Brand Finance’s research also explores the profound effect of COVID-19 on Soft Power dynamics. Nations that all saw significant declines after the knock-on effect of the first wave of the pandemic in 2021, have since rebounded strongly, including Spain (up 11 ranks), Italy (up 10 ranks), India (up seven ranks), China (up five ranks), USA (up five ranks), and Brazil (up four ranks).
In 2024, for the first time, Brand Finance researched all 193 member states of the United Nations, with 72 new entrants to this year’s ranking.
Notably, the fifth edition of the Global Soft Power Index will be published at the Global Soft Power Summit 2024 in London on February 28-29.
