One Belt, One Road: Why does the CPEC brand matter?

It can bring goodwill even to a poorly conceived project

ISLAMABAD: Mega projects – think big multibillion-dollar investments – often come with huge expectations and as Pakistan is in the midst of an infrastructure building boom, thanks to a “OBOR booster shot”, it is important to create a consistent but compelling narrative when it comes to stakeholder consensus regarding these projects.

However, the burning question of the hour is: Why a strategic approach to managing the CPEC brand is crucial for its success despite full financial commitment from the Chinese government?

Every mega project has a brand and a reputation that determines the level of stakeholder support it will command by creating and sustaining value in the minds of people. So, the answer is that it is not merely an issue of government officials indulging in election campaign rhetoric and trying to hang a silver lining around controversial projects.



In fact, the Planning Commission has tried to portray the CPEC portfolio as a Holy Grail of development and has branded almost every infrastructure initiative as part of CPEC. So, affiliation with the CPEC brand can bring some goodwill even to a poorly conceived project, but it also means that the entire house of CPEC may be jeopardised by the failure of one or two major projects.

At the end of the day, it may take only a couple of disgruntled stakeholders to make headlines such as “good old pork barrel politics in play” or “new white elephant in the town.”

In the past, mega projects such as London Ringway had to be cancelled under intense public pressure. Similarly, a dominant negative public opinion stopped the Covent Garden development in London.

Learning from the Heathrow airport terminal-5 fiasco and the Lahore Orange train project getting into hot waters, there is a compelling need not only to manage stakeholder expectations, but to create a shared vision of the CPEC brand – that flows downward so that all stakeholders get a crystal clear idea of its key strategic goals and objectives.

Sometimes negative reporting occurs because of the perceived unwillingness to tackle a real problem. So, it is vital to periodically gauge public opinion and then pick strategic positions on various policy matters based on common sentiments.

On the other hand, the success of CPEC portfolio means that the government can issue long-term infrastructure bonds with a lower coupon rate and it can sell stakes in various CPEC-related Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for the buck.

A strong CPEC brand also means more influx of foreign exchange through cheaper Eurobonds.

Former planning minister Ahsan Iqbal established the Young Development Corps (YDC) in an attempt to engage university students in setting a positive development-based narrative of the country.

The group identified idea champions in every campus who acted as facilitators to give students first-hand experience and an opportunity to become part of the CPEC process.



Whether it is through summer internships or policy debates, it enabled the ministry to change its focus from story-telling to story-making. The Young Development Fellows (YDF) programme gives the brightest minds of the country a chance to attend C-level meetings with decision-makers including the staff of the ADB and World Bank.

However, the office of DevCom in the planning ministry has not taken off at the level that was expected of it. As a matter of fact, the DevCom project is a day late and a dollar short.

With over a dozen mega projects in the pipeline under the umbrella of CPEC, stakes have never been higher. There are so many stories to tell like how CPEC has boosted our tourism industry and helped Pakistan boost its GDP growth – not to mention the internal security situation.

The government needs to create a compelling brand narrative that can help its stories stand out everywhere. After all, only a strategic approach to CPEC branding can distinguish Pakistan from the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) pack and take it from dark horse to world class.

The writer is a Cambridge graduate and is working as a management consultant

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2017.

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