A country’s reputation is the overall measure and assessment of how it is perceived. It is a long-term accumulated and durable perspective. It is an intangible asset critical for building awareness of the nation among different stakeholders.
Investors have become increasingly concerned with the reputation concept. Reputation management has become an emerging and crucial need for both businesses and nations. Warren Buffett, the successful American businessman and philanthropist, argues: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you will do things differently.”
Malta’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list is indeed a positive development in the long journey to restore Malta’s reputation among its stakeholders. A country’s stakeholders have become more comprehensive, including opinion makers, trade partners, the public, NGOs and investors.
A country with a strong reputation attracts more tourists and foreign investment, increases exports, engages the public, attracts knowledge and talent and brings support from various stakeholders.
The decision of the FATF about Malta should spur the government to undertake a broad-spectrum project to revamp the country’s reputation. In the past year, many have assessed the impact of greylisting from the perspective of its potential impact on direct foreign investment. The nation’s branding is undoubtedly a crucial strategic tool to enhance a nation’s global competitive advantage.
However, building a country’s brand requires it to revamp its policies in a wide variety of areas related to the environment, governance and the economy. As do some other EU countries, Malta faces formidable challenges as the dynamics of its economic success in the last few decades continue to change.
It is expected, for instance, that the European Council may soon agree on a minimum corporate tax of 15 per cent. Tax-friendly policies have been one of the main strategies for attracting investment to the country. We now need to find new competitive advantages to adding value for foreign investors looking at Malta as a potential location for their investment.
Prime Minister Robert Abela stresses that “Malta remains committed to reforms discussed with the FATF so that the country will continue to be strengthened as a serious financial jurisdiction”.
It remains to be seen how long it will take for international banks to restore their corresponding banking relations with local banks. Still, removing the country from the grey list is a crucial development to speed up this process.
Revamping the country’s reputation at the international level also needs the engagement of as many local people as possible.
The greylisting should no longer be weaponised as a political tool that one local tribe uses to attack the other.
For too long, different political administrations have embedded political patronage in their governance plans. This has often resulted in almost half the population feeling disenfranchised because the political party they support does not effectively share the power to improve the community’s life.
The sacrifices that need to be made in the arduous journey that should lead to the country’s restoration of a solid international brand will be made easier if everyone feels that these sacrifices are indeed in their country’s best interest.
Revamping the nation’s brand is not about spending money on marketing campaigns. It will be a worthless exercise indeed to base the country’s branding on a façade, while behind that façade the decay of rot and self-interest continues to fester.
Restoring the country’s reputation for real is about embedding solidarity among all sections of society, solidarity built on the values of good governance and respect for all.