More than 40 years after Independence, Bangladesh is now carrying a higher brand value globally than Pakistan in most of the international indices.
London-based Brand Finance, a leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy entity, in its latest ranking on national brand, put Bangladesh's value at $144 billion in 2015. At the same time, the brand value for Pakistan was estimated at $93 billion.
Brand value of Bangladesh increased by 25 per cent from 2014. The country was placed among the top 10 'fastest growing nation brands'. The Brand Finance measures the strength and value of 100 countries using a method based on the royalty-relief mechanism employed to value large companies.
Its 2015 ranking also put Bangladesh in the 47th position among 100 countries while Pakistan was ranked 54th. In this report, India ranked seventh while the United States of America was in the first position.
The nation brand value indicates socio-economic dynamism of a country.
Consistence advancement in different global socio-economic indicators increases a country's brand value in different spheres.
Dr Zahid Hussain, lead economist of the World Bank Dhaka office, opined that there are three major strengths driving the country's socio-economic dynamics and contributing to brand image enhancement.
"Bangladesh is getting benefit of demographic dividends and continues to get it in coming days as female workforce is gradually increasing," he said while talking with the FE.
"There is a growing entrepreneur class and it has now reached its third generation with wider global exposure," continued Dr Zahid.
Currently, Bangladesh is the third largest exporter of ready-made garments after China and European Union, according to the World Trade Organisation statistics.
"Finally, the county's strategic geographical location makes the access to emerging markets easier and this location needs to be tapped optimally," he added.
According to the World Bank economist, the country's economy has been growing at a rate of over 6.0 per cent annually on an average for last one decade despite a lot of obstacles mainly due to these growing strengths.
Pakistan, however, has been struggling with 5.0 per cent economic growth rate on an average for last one decade.
FutuerBrand, a London-based consultancy firm, unveiled another country brand index for 2014-15 where it put Bangladesh in the 72nd position and Pakistan 73rd among 75 countries.
The firm, however, found 22 top ranked countries as the actual 'country brands'. It has argued that people have stronger than average perceptions of these countries in six criteria. These include: quality of life, value system, business potentials, and 'Made In' expertise.
Although the country's innovativeness is not significantly visible, it is recognised at the global level. In the global innovation index, Bangladesh ranked 129th while the rank for Pakistan in the same index was 131 in 2015.
Bangladesh's achievement in human development and social indictors are far better compared to Pakistan. The country ranked 142nd in UNDP-HDI in 2014 while the ranking of Pakistan was 147.
The Washington-based East West Communications in 2011 put Bangladesh in 77th position among 200 countries in its Nation Brand Perception Index and Pakistan at 195.
The rankings of 200 countries and territories, including all 193 UN members, were based on 'how they are described in major media'.
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