Build Bangladesh as powerful brand

Sunday, 29 March 2009

at a high-profile seminar of Bangladesh Brand Forum at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel yesterday.Photo: STARStar Business Report

The curtain came down on a high-profile seminar of Bangladesh Brand Forum yesterday, with calls for highlighting the positives and strengths of the country to build it as a powerful brand.

Participants of the programme also focused on a collective dream, respect to local culture, corporate ethics and values in brand-building.
An emphasis was also put on financial transparency of corporate houses and their investment in enhancing the purchasing power of the low-income group.
At the seminar at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel, the discussants also called for shrugging off "low self-esteem or inferiority complex" to emerge as a strong brand in the corporate world

"Our strength is entrepreneurship even in the midst of various problems, hopelessness," said Munawar Misbah Moin, director of Rahimafrooz Group, at a panel discussion.
"Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are good at looking at the opportunity,” he said.
Publisher and Editor of The Daily Star Mahfuz Anam, Grameenphone Communications Director Rubaba Dowla, Kazi & Kazi Tea Estates Chief Executive Officer Kazi Anis Ahmed were other panellists.
Chief Adviser of Bangladesh Brand Forum Prof Syed Ferhat Anwar moderated the discussion.
Despite various bottlenecks such as uncertainty in government policies, hartal and corruption, Bangladesh's entrepreneurs, supported by an energetic force of workers, have kept the economic engine rolling with the GDP growing by more than 5 percent over the last five years.
Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, encouraged by the resilience and innovativeness of predecessors, have been able to achieve a competitive edge in sectors such as garments and pharmaceuticals, they said.
The nation now expects to emerge as a shipbuilding nation, shifting away from shipbreaking.
The discussants stressed the need for business houses' investment at the bottom of the pyramid to share the benefit of economic progress with the people living on the margins. This will enhance the purchasing power of low-income groups, they said.
Pointing to microcredit and social-business ideas, Mahfuz Anam, editor of The Daily Star, said the most destitute portion of population is most trustworthy.
"We can bank on that to reach the bottom of the pyramid," Anam said. “It's glorious to be rich and it's more glorious to be rich and share," he said.
Rubaba Dowla said investment meant to improve the livelihoods of people living at the bottom yields good returns in the long run.
She said Bangladesh as a country has to be branded to enable local businesses to take their products to the global stage.
“We need to talk about the positives of Bangladesh to emerge as a powerful brand. We also need to be transparent,” said Dowla.
The discussion also focused on weaknesses such as inferiority complex and low self-esteem that crowd out the strengths of Bangladesh's corporate sector.
Speaking on a topic, "Story of a power brand", Prem Chand, general manager of Nokia Emerging Asia Limited, focused on the need for corporate houses to pursue knowledge and insights from the local community.