UAE, Saudi top Global Soft Powers 2022 among Arab nations

London: The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia became first and second among Arab nations in the 2022 Brand Finance Global Soft Power Index, inaugurated here at the Global Soft Power Summit on Tuesday, Arab News reported. The Global Soft Power Index (GSPI) is the world's most detailed study on perceptions of brands of different nations.

This year, 13 Arab countries were listed in the GSPI, where UAE ranked 15 and Saudi Arabia 24. The latter maintained its position from the previous year but made a considerable performance with index crore reaching 47.1 this year.

The United States finished first this year while the United Kingdom grabbed second place, overcoming the enormous Covid-19 hurdles and the Brexit debate.

Regarding growing brands in Saudi Arabia, managing director of Brand Finance Middle East Andrew Campbell said that the fastest growing brand in the entire Middle East is Ma'aden. Saudia Airlines will be Middle East's fastest-growing airline brand in 2022, he said.

Saudi has prioritised soft power and nation branding in its Vision 2030's socio-economic reform agenda.

UAE reportedly cashed its exhibitions like Expo 2020 Dubai to grab the leading position among global soft powers. UAE minister for advanced technology and chair of the UAE Space Agency, Sarah bint Yousef Al-Amiri said that the nation made the achievement by accepting change.

The nation leads by demonstrating how to create opportunities, change and build growth within its territory.

The GSPI is determined through the metrics across the fields of Business, governance, international relations, culture and heritage, media, education, people, values etc. This time the metric to measure how nations responded to the pandemic challenge was also included.

As per the GSPI 2022, the UAE scored best in the business and trade field, reaching among the global top 10. It finished 4th for being "easy to do business with" while 8th for having a "strong and stable economy". The country made the most rapid advancement in education and science, aided by its focus on high tech industries and Emirates Mars Mission.

Other Arab nations ranked in the list were Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon and Iraq.