Questions On ‘How Small Can Be Beautiful’ Answered
By Sonia K & Aemy Azlena

Bandar Seri Begawan - The National Business Conference 2007, themed "How Small Can Be Beautiful", brought together 300 senior figures from public and private sectors to discuss key issues that face the country's economic growth and development.

Five themes - branding, environment, entrepreneurship and globalisation, human resources, and strategies for smaller countries - were discussed at the event that featured distinguished local and foreign speakers.

In the morning session, entitled "How Small Can Be Beautiful: Smart Strategies For Small Countries", saw presentations from Dr Paul Temporal, who is an author and branding expert, and Dr Linda Low, a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asia Studies (ISEAS) Singapore.

According to Dr Temporal, countries are competing for tourists, investment, trade and talent in this globalised world.

The competitive strategy, he said, is in being different from other countries, and the only way to differentiate is through country branding.

He explained that branding is a service delivery, relationships between buyers and sellers, how consumers think and feel about the items, emotional associations and positive perceptions of the consumers, adding that it is important to isolate positive perceptions and figuring out how these contributions can be enhanced while downplaying everything that does not.

Additionally, a country brand must continually, consistently and accurately reinforce a few simple, coherent and compelling truths, which are aimed at specific audiences and their influences, he said.

He also highlighted the advantage of having branding for countries was that it enhances nation building by elevating confidence, pride, harmony, ambition and national resolve.

To develop a brand, Dr Temporal said, a country needs brand vision and values, brand positioning and brand management.

He went on to explain that brand vision is what the brand stands for or emotionally in the minds of the consumers, such as whether a country is a good place to go for beach-type vacation.

Brand values, he said, is derived from the vision of the brand; it is a personality-based attribute that differentiates the brand from the others.

Brand positioning, meanwhile, is concerned with differentiating a brand from the rest in the minds of the consumers and helps to answer key questions, such as "why are you different?" and "why are you better?" in terms of leisure, food and beverages, entertainment or cutting-edge creativity.

Brand management is a process that takes control of everything a brand does and says, as well as the way in which it is perceived, he said.

Later, Dr Low, in her presentation, said that being a small country is beautiful, and among the advantages that Brunei has are wealth, a sustainable development with plenty of resources, though Brunei needs to be able to work smart with these resources for it to be effective.

She suggested that industries, local or government linked, play a supporting role in making Brunei successful in a globalising world.

The government must both be hard and soft in their dealings, she added.

She also noted the public private partnership (PPP), which described a government service or private business venture funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private companies.

Chairman of Sungai Liang Auhtority YAM Pengiran Kerma Raja Pengiran Kamarulzaman bin PPSDSB Pengiran Dato Haji Ali and Young Arab Leaders Forum Managing Director Rasha Al Saleh were also on hand to deliver comments during the session, moderated by Acting Chairman of Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) Dato Timothy Ong.

The afternoon session, entitled "Sedikit Sedikit Jadi Bukit", saw the discussion of how small steps by individuals and companies can make a big difference to the environment.

TOTAL Solar Power Manager Philippe Costerg was on hand to deliver a presentation on solar energy, during which he gave an overview of solar activities and the main challenges in the solar business, including growth, costs and technological opportunities in an energy-hungry world.

Present to give comments during the session, moderated by KPMG partner Shazali Dato Haji Sulaiman, were Centre for Environment, Technology and Development Malaysia Chairman Gurmit Singh KS and UBD lecturer on environmental systems and analysis Gabriel Yong. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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