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Public sector's role in branding

It can ensure the success of nation as a world-class brand, says Muhyiddin

KUALA LUMPUR: The public sector has to play a vital role like the private sector to ensure the success of the nation as a brand, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.
Muhyiddin said the public sector had to evolve with the present demands.

"In order to achieve that, their plans have to be based on the foundations of knowledge and wisdom.

"We have to realise that a country's brand has to be rooted in reality and connected to the people -- encompassing not just products, but governance, social and human capital as well as sustainable growth," Muhyiddin said in his keynote address while closing the Razak Roundtable session themed "Creating brand power for countries and companies", here.

Dubbing national branding as a country's calling card, Muhyiddin said that countries with good reputations always attracted investments.

"The world's strongest country brands are multifaceted and perform well across several dimensions, while their weaker counterparts do not have recognisable profiles in any dimension."

Muhyiddin said country labels have also now become shorthand for a type of style, process or entire industry standards -- for instance, Switzerland is well known for banking and watches, Japan is associated with cars and electronics and Costa Rica is famous for coffee and beaches.

He said Malaysia's strength in economic reforms, governance and human capital had placed it in the third position of FutureBrand's future 15 powerhouse country brands list last November.

"Clearly our Economic and Government Transformation Programmes are beginning to show results and taking us in the right direction. Nonetheless, there is more to be done."

Muhyiddin said with today's globalisation, countries competed for attention, respect and trust of potential consumers, investors, tourists and talents.

"A positive and strong nation brand will ultimately provide a leading competitive advantage."

Muhyiddin lauded the Razak School of Government, in organising the roundtable session, for its role in providing advanced leadership and public development for the public service.