The top five positions are taken by Switzerland, Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Germany, followed by Australia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and New Zealand LONDON: The UAE climbed three spots from last year’s global Brand Strength Index, beating both the UK and the US, to be ranked 11th among the world’s strongest nation brands. Brand Finance gave the UAE a score of 79.1 out of 100, marking “the latest confirmation of the excellence of the Emirati model in strategic planning and development,” according to Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammed Al-Gergawi. He told The National: “It confirms the nation’s success in establishing modern, open, transparent and interactive media communication with the public around the world, through which it has been able to present its many inspiring success stories.” Similar metrics demonstrated a rise in UAE’s economic ranking and financial value. “The rise in the economic value of the UAE’s national brand from 18th to 17th position this year is a clear indication of the country’s global reputation and competitiveness in various fields,” added Al-Gergawi. The top five positions are taken by Switzerland, Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Germany, followed by Australia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and New Zealand. “There is no doubt that achieving 11 percent brand value growth, from $672 billion to $749 billion, is a major achievement in the 50th year of the UAE and underlines how quickly our nation has established its name and global identity as a developed and pioneering country. It is an exceptional success story that will be told to all generations,” Al-Gergawi added. Brand Finance, a brand valuation company, measures the relative strength of national brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating brand investment, equity, and performance. Andrew Campbell, managing director at Brand Finance Middle East, said that the UAE is “challenging the Western status quo in ranking.” He added: “As the UAE celebrates its Golden Jubilee year, it continues to fly the flag high, promoting the nation’s achievements across the world through ground-breaking initiatives like the Emirates Mars Mission and serving as the gateway to the region by hosting the world for 182 days at Expo 2020 Dubai.” Not only did the UAE score high on brand strength, but the country also stood out for its COVID-19 response, getting top marks on the influence and business and trade pillars, while also scoring strongly on the education and science pillars. While Switzerland continued to dominate the market as the world’s strongest nation brand, other countries took a fall. The UK, US, Japan, and France have all fallen out of the top 10 strongest nation brands following perceptions on how they handled the COVID-19 pandemic. The UK fell dramatically from 2nd to 14th position with a score of 77.4, while the US dropped from 4th to 17th with a score of 75.1. Despite their brand strength taking a hit, however, these nations all still feature in an unchanged top 10 when ranked by nation brand value.