Strategic Vision of the Republic of Moldova
11 Mar 2023 INBRASA

Strategic Vision of the Republic of Moldova

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Brief Analysis (Introduction)

The Republic of Moldova – what is it like today? Year after year we observe the degradation of the Moldovan state governance institution (a system split along political principles and the prevalence of party/personal ambitions over common goals), the decline or weak growth rates of the economy, a divided society, chronic poverty of the population, its outflow to other countries for earnings and work. As a consequence, demographic and professional crises...

People's lives are getting worse, the country (taken from the CIA US report dated 01.05.2018) remains the poorest in Europe. In total, as of 2018, our Moldova is less developed than as of 1991.

But does it make sense to consider the trend only from the date of the proclamation of Moldovan independence? I think not.

And therefore, for comparison, I took the period from 1988 to 2018. That is, 30 years of the republic's life in its different states – under the Soviet command-administrative management system and under the transitional one to capitalism, in which we have been stuck to this day due to the fact that this form of state governance came to us from outside in a directive manner.

Strangely enough, as of 1988, things in our sunny region were not going very well either. A large number of industrial enterprises failed to fulfill contractual obligations for product supplies, about 5% of industrial enterprises ended the year with losses.

At the same time, measures for the priority development of the social sphere are being carried out in the republic, as a result of which (!) the real incomes of the population do not increase and the housing construction plan is not fulfilled, but the production of consumer goods is growing (probably, based on the fact that on the threshold of the 21st century a person, even in a hut, should be clothed, shod, and fed, because on a full stomach fewer questions arise). And this despite the fact that the republic was partly subsidized (i.e., there was money in it), and life in it was better than, for example, in the donor republic (Russia).

The population of the then Moldavia was 4.34 million people, more than half of whom (56%) were active labor resources - almost 1 million 600 thousand workers and employees, 309 thousand collective farmers, and about 50 thousand people were engaged in individual labor activity.

Only 30 years have passed, and Moldova has lost a third of this figure. According to RM statistics as of 2018, we have only 2.6 million people left (the right bank of the Dniester). And this with unchanged external borders. To this figure we add 300,000 people from the left bank... The result is the same – sad. The population loss in Moldova has been significant!

I am not even talking about labor resources – the main mass of hands today is engaged in inefficient agriculture, from industry only garment production is heard of, working on tolling raw materials and for export. As such, there is no serious budget-generating Moldovan production in the country. And against this background, the population loss for work abroad continues.

If we look a little deeper into time, a decade or two earlier (60s-70s) we had everything well - growth in all aspects, scientific and technical progress, the republic rightfully considered a flourishing region, practically paradise, in which many wanted to live...

What happened in the 80s that so changed the dynamics of Moldova? Various factors, the main one being perestroika in 1986, when the aging organism of the Soviet Union tried to reconfigure itself and breathe in a new way.

Perestroika was proclaimed, laws were adopted, instructions were sent to the union republics, the number of Moldovan ministries and departments was reduced from 50 to 36, but... the personnel in them remained the same, thinking in many ways also did not change, and the decline began. In the economy and not only. In 1988, statistics recorded some decrease in the birth rate in Moldavia, which, in general, is considered one of the signals from the people to the authorities about a violation of stability in the present day and uncertainty in the future day.

Then came 1991: the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Moldavian SSR obtaining internationally recognized right to independence. And it seemed that the country had a point of support and even bright prospects, but again the same problem – the people in management are the same, their thinking is largely the same.

What is the picture in 2018? You won't believe it, it hasn't changed. Even though a year earlier, a management reform was carried out in RM, and the number of ministries and departments was again reduced. This did not renew the state's managerial composition at all, but on the contrary, rooted it, and to the Soviet thinking preserved in it added unprofessionalism, aggravating it with personal short-term ambitions, outwardly divided for society by party affiliation, but essentially fused into a single organism by kinship (blood and non-blood) ties.

It turns out that - and this is the paradox of today - with all the European flags, democratic statements, and constant segmental pro-Western reforms, we have preserved in the republic the template of the late-period Soviet state. That is, not the best template, given that it has a trend not towards growth, but towards decline. Moreover, this template periodically returns to the starting point (to reform) and is reproduced again - not changing in essence, but overgrown with details. Creating for external partners the illusion of movement somewhere... although, in essence, not moving anywhere. In terms of creation.

The state official and political mind has degenerated into the thinking of temporary workers. And it is precisely this (the type of thinking and the template of state construction, everything else is derived from them) that is a burden for us and does not allow us to become a truly independent, sovereign, and neutral Republic of Moldova. As we ourselves, in advance and with hope for imminent implementation, wrote in the Constitution.

What to do?

  1. Change the approach to the state. Look at it from a different angle, and based on this view, reassemble the state construction anew.
  2. Change the entire managerial composition of the state.

Ideally, of course, to do the reassembly of the country and the change of management simultaneously. But in our realities, this is unlikely, so I propose to implement these points gradually and in the context of the strategic vision of the country formulated in this document.

What does it consist of? In that the country needs to be looked at as a brand. That is, as a single living organism, in which all its components work interconnectedly for an integrated image, stable for its citizens, open to the world and attractive to it.

(NB!) We can become attractive only by formulating ourselves independently, and methodically forming, supporting ourselves, daily prolonging ourselves into the future and thereby consolidating among all those around us first sympathy, then loyalty, and after them respect for ourselves.

This is a big job, calculated for years and decades ahead regardless of the color of the current government. Which, in general, practically no one anywhere deals with deeply, but the need for which is increasingly maturing in the world.

The century and even the millennium have changed, the climate is changing on the planet, this causes adjustment of the movement of air masses and oceanic currents, fish, animals, birds migrate... New combinations of fauna are created by crossing species. People migrate in large masses from country to country and from continent to continent. And this also creates new living conditions. Both for humans and for countries. And therefore, the state construction – the form that a person chose for his full life to reveal himself as a personality – must also change.

It is impossible to live in a changed world by old rules - this inevitably leads to the rupture of both the template itself and those who try to preserve it.

Country as a Brand

In 2011, I began to think, and in 2014, I formulated my thoughts in the article "The Paradigm of the New Era – Sociocracy" (http://www.pr-club.com/pr_lib/pr_raboty/2015). Why not "democracy"? Probably because in the 21st century in general and very clearly in the realities of our republic, democracy has exhausted itself, it has returned to what thinkers of antiquity initially understood by this word - the most inefficient form of government in the state (Plato, "The Republic", 360 BC). And therefore, it was logical to find a new name that would accommodate both people's expectations and the requirements of the time. I decided that such a name would be sociocracy. I formulated the definition, saying that it (in the sense I put into it) is now the basis for the development of man and the state.

Sociocracy is:

  • power, at the head of which are man, his rights, duties, dignity.
  • state construction, in which the direct interest of governance institutions is society. And the points of application of interest – every citizen constituting society.
  • society, each of its voices formulating itself, its development, regulating power within and above itself.

All three points of the definition exist simultaneously and in close interconnection with each other, forming the trinity of meaning.

A few years later, in 2018, I wrote an addition to the article – based on personal observations of Moldova and the world, I described a couple of trends that, in my opinion, show that we are already living in this new paradigm for us (the trend towards oneself, the trend towards personality).

Well, and if time and conditions of existence in it have changed, it is logical to look at the organizational form of our life – the state – a little differently.

Thus, from sociocracy, the definition of strategic branding was extracted.

Strategic branding - is a volumetric, creative, and strategically-oriented process of forming the state. Its mission, long-term vision on the world map, balancing today and continuation into tomorrow for our descendants.

Strategic branding includes knowledge of the basics of economics, state governance, psychology, the ability to observe, analyze, draw conclusions, understand politics and political technologies, the ability to be a creator, the presence of developed intuition, logic, communication skills, non-standard large-scale thinking, optimism, the ability to see the pros and cons of the research object, understanding tactics and strategy, the ability to feel the future, form trends, and much more.

And already from it - the view of the country as a brand and considering the process of state building and management (country branding) in a complex and in the long term.

Elements of the Brand "Republic of Moldova"

In order to launch the strategic branding process, besides desire and the objective necessity "not to fall out of the ranks," people are needed. But not just specialists in separate fields, but also selected according to a certain criterion:

  • they must correctly understand the general task,
  • their thinking must be able to consider the processes occurring in the country and outside it strictly in the given direction – keeping in mind the ideology of sociocracy (as a base) and the vision of Moldova as a strong viable brand (as an idea derived from it).

Such comprehensively thinking people in Moldova are not yet available. Simply because the proposed area of knowledge is new not only for our country but also in general. However, they can be educated and taught.

For this, let's recall point 1 – the view of the state construction from a slightly different angle.

To develop it, let's examine the brand "Republic of Moldova" by elements.

I want to remind you that the definition of "strategic branding" starts from what branding is in general, in its traditional application to a product.

According to David Ogilvy, branding is the intangible sum of a product's properties: its name, packaging, price, history, reputation, and advertising methods.

Enlarging the phrase to the state level, we get an idea of what strategic branding is – a volumetric and long-term process of forming the country.

So, the intangible sum of properties:

1. NAME

The name of our state-brand – Republic of Moldova. The name is compound, carries history and modernity: Moldova (historical part of the name), Republic (modern part of the name, reflecting the form of state governance).

Into the name Republic of Moldova, 32 districts, 2 autonomous territorial formations (Gagauzia ATU and the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldavian Republic), over 40 different ethnicities living in the country enter. That is, the name communicates to its brand (the country-owner) and the surrounding world multi-level, and therefore interesting administrative-territorial and ethnic content.

Based on the name, citizens of the Republic of Moldova are called Moldovans.

2. PACKAGING

The packaging of the brand "Republic of Moldova" includes:

  • geography (location and internal structure),
  • climate,
  • natural resources (including ecology),
  • neighboring countries,
  • strategic partners (countries and organizations),
  • development partners (countries and organizations).

3. PRICE

Price – everything that is valuable to the brand and that helps it create added value for itself.

Namely:

  • principles and values of the brand (intangible assets)
  • material components:
    • a) human capital,
    • b) production (traditional and innovative),
    • c) service sector (traditional and innovative),
    • d) legislation,
    • e) financial-banking system,
    • ...

i.e., people and the economy.

4. HISTORY

Every brand relies on a legend, based on either an invented history or an authentic one. The Republic of Moldova has the happiness of possessing an authentic centuries-old history.

From any of its time segments (more precisely, not any, but a very carefully thought-out and chosen one), the brand's mission is extracted. Something stable but giving reason for dream, unification, and aspiration.

For example, the phrase "WE – proper name" (this is the title of my book, in which Moldova and history are reflected fragmentarily), in which:

  • we - unifying beginning, the word implies that a person is not alone, there are many people.
  • name - we have a name (see above).
  • proper - a proper name is written with a capital letter. That is, subconscious formation of a sense of pride for oneself and one's name, the desire to support, preserve, and prolong it.

5. REPUTATION

Reputation can be internal and external.

The internal one is aimed at uniting people into a nation, and the nation into civil society.

The external one works to attract investments, tourist flow from outside, encourages its own citizens to return home.

When working with reputations, it is important to remember that there should be no gaps between them.

The term "reputation" is directly related to the phrases "country's image" and "forming a positive country image".

6. ADVERTISING METHODS

Advertising/promotion/support of the brand is possible with the help of:

  • tools,
  • communication channels.

Both tools and communication channels can be either traditional or non-standard.

Example of a non-standard tool: about 10 years ago, within the framework of the Russian police reform, I proposed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation a non-standard PR tool – the online game "I am a policeman" (this was before renaming policemen into police officers).

Goal: to help the population learn about the difficult work of a police officer, as well as to help form a positive image of the police in general (perception was very negative).

The idea was as follows: a real operational department is conducting an investigation of a real case (not secret, already closed). In real-time mode, the investigator puts forward versions, distributes powers across the department... At each stage, citizens can connect to the investigation, together with police officers choose versions, think logically who committed the crime, etc.

Since the game takes place in real-time, citizens who connect to the game are directly involved in the process, see how sometimes difficult it is to calculate the criminal... In the end, respect for the work of the policeman is born, trust in his work appears, respectively, the formation of a positive perception of the profession in general occurs.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation partially implemented this idea. Partially because not a separate website was made, but only a page in one of the social networks. The result from this at the output turned out not as originally intended. But this is also good, considering that such initiatives generally never existed with them before.

Moldova, by the way, can try to implement this tool in full.

Especially since about a year after my conversation at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, after them in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, then the publication of the idea on the internet, the idea of an online simulator game turned out to be in demand in the USA (in the media I read that the US naval forces decided that it is easier and cheaper to work out some exercises on a game website than in real sea conditions), in Europe (in large companies it was recognized as convenient to conduct trainings in an online game form rather than in reality) etc. That is, the military sector and big business immediately and fully understood the value of this simple idea.

But a brand is not a brand if it does not have a corporate culture: that core which, along with the idea, gathers all the elements of the brand into one and helps it "keep posture."

The corporate culture of the brand "Republic of Moldova" includes not only the traditional understanding of culture (music, literature, theater, cinema, painting, carpet weaving, pottery, folk songs, costumes and traditions, national cuisines, architecture, etc.), but also:

  • culture of human upbringing,
  • education,
  • culture of experience transmission (continuity of generations),
  • culture of communication (human-human and human-nature),
  • culture of driving a vehicle,
  • culture of document flow,
  • culture of doing business,
  • legal literacy,
  • culture of political dialogue
  • and much more.

That is, everything that falls into the formulations "human – in oneself", "human – human" and "human – world", all this is the culture of the brand "Republic of Moldova".

Examining the brand "Republic of Moldova" by elements entails not only the development of a new type of thinking among managers and other citizens of the country (long-term period) but also in the short term - a managerial reform.

Which will take place not by mechanically reducing the number of ministries and departments (with a simultaneous increase in the bureaucratic apparatus, as invariably happens with us), but more consciously and within the framework of the strategic vision of the country as a strong brand with a recognizable face and positive reputation.

Experience of Post-Soviet Countries

The most mentally close region to us for searching for something similar in state structure is the post-Soviet space. We have 70 years of common history, this is an impressive period of time. And even now, 27 years after the collapse of the USSR, we, although differences have emerged, still retain common features:

  • identical crisis points in cities built according to the same model and still reproducing the Soviet person,
  • equally strong influence of the consumer market, creating social stratification,
  • similar problems with the development of economic sectors, since the common system was destroyed, and creating one's own is difficult...

etc.

What way out of the accumulating situation do countries see? In general, they also use the words "brand" and "image" in their lexicon, but go along a segmented path – without changing the focus of view on the state (and therefore the essence), trying to promote it into the world. They engage in branding tourism, sports, etc. Or branding territories (cities, regions).

Let's take tourism branding. As a rule, it boils down to creating a logo, slogan, and describing the concept. The second stage involves standard support activities – brochures, audio and video clips, participation in exhibitions, cultural events, etc.

Territory branding, in general, moves along the same path. With the only difference that it is set a specific task to reach a certain quantitative indicator, based on the planned branding goal (tourism, investments, business, labor force, consolidation of the internal audience, influence in the region, etc.).

Comprehensively, not a single post-Soviet space country considers itself as a brand. And, accordingly, does not work on itself in this way.

However, attempts at structural transformations still exist. Usually, they occur under the influence of the internal desire of the post-Soviet country to integrate into the West (EU and US) or East (Muslim world) and the hidden reciprocal desire of external partners to influence in the region.

Thus, Georgia, on the wave of fighting corruption and distrust in law enforcement agencies, decides to completely change the personnel composition of the police. New-type service premises are being built. Salaries in the department are increased. Employees are given new introductory information... And in general, this leads to positive results – the crime rate in the country fell, trust in law enforcement agencies increased.

For the same reason – desire to integrate – Kazakhstan decides by 2020 to translate its language from Cyrillic to Latin. This is a serious step, capable of entailing a change in the type of thinking of the people.

For another reason – a high-profile murder of a famous Olympic athlete – in August 2018, President Nursultan Nazarbayev makes a decision on reforming the local law enforcement system – to carry it out according to the model of his Georgian colleague Mikhail Saakashvili.

The desire to integrate pushes countries not only to translate their language into Latin (as it was in Moldova in the early 90s), but also where it is impossible (Ukraine), to completely translate education in the country into the state language. This is a radical step (noted also in the Baltic countries), it clearly infringes on the rights of some people living in the state, but, in the opinion of the authorities, contributes to the creation of an integral state. Even despite the fact that, in addition to dissatisfaction within the country, it creates a certain background for external partners.

A number of states see the benefit from the word "brand" only in the context of commerce – wanting to promote their products on the market, focus on the slogan "Made in ...". In Russia, this is a national brand, a kind of platform uniting producers of quality products – "Made in Russia".

In Belarus, there is no national brand, but there is a stable linking of quality with individual sectors – dairy production, linen fabrics, potatoes, tractors, etc.

In Moldova, there is an attempt to form the national brand "Made in Moldova", but it is still very fragmented due to the fact that there is little production in the republic, and the platform has almost nothing to fill with.

Turkmenistan, being in an uneasy neighborhood of neighbors, made the country's neutrality a priority. Creating some social benefits for the population (free gas, electricity, water) but limiting freedom of movement abroad, it closed in on itself and put out to the external world an identification flag with the word "country's neutrality".

Is this country branding? Not sure. Although as an option...

...

In general, these are bright, diverse, and somewhat effective for their countries examples, but they, again, show a fragmentary and sometimes impulsive approach to state transformations. To what I call strategic branding.

Experience of Western Countries

More extensively, but again, without changing the essence and construction of the state, looks at the country Simon Anholt - an independent political consultant from Great Britain, whose name, as they say, is on everyone's lips. For him, the country's brand boils down to the country's image and marketing its territory. Apparently, based on the idea that with a successful facial expression you can sell yourself well. He developed his own rating system, gives countries points, publishes information in a specially created magazine. In general, created the prestige of image.

Such an approach is typical for the Western value system. And therefore, it is not surprising that it was in this context – image is everything! – the idea was picked up in Great Britain, Canada, the USA, France, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, New Zealand, and others.

However, the brand's image is only part of the brand. And calling work with the country's image national branding, Anholt deliberately substitutes concepts, leading the client – the country – away from the correct understanding of the process.

The only, in my opinion, positive example of a comprehensive understanding of the state as a brand (and this is entirely the merit of local ideologists and the country's leadership, not Anholt) – Singapore. Applying it, of course, as a carbon copy for other countries does not make sense – all countries are different, but in something it can be taken into service.

However, let's return to Moldova.

Priority Areas for Moldova's Development

Talking above about the elements of the brand "Republic of Moldova", I am not saying that everything listed is absent with us. In varying degrees, everything exists in Moldova. But! Since year after year we observe a downward trend, the conclusion suggests itself:

  1. Either the management of the brand "Republic of Moldova" is going from bad to worse due to poor professional managerial training, false ambitions, and/or misunderstanding of the brand idea, its components, and its culture.
  2. Or the state governance system is "assembled" in an improper order.

If the brand is poorly managed by management, the management should be replaced with more competent and process-understanding employees.

If the brand's elements are assembled not so, they need to be recomposed. That is, to make a relaunch of the state in a slightly different order – traditionally perceived but already poorly working elements to reassemble into groups with a slightly different semantic load. Into the brand elements (see above).

(NB!) When the state's elements are assembled into slightly different groups, and when they are managed by people who understand where and for what the country needs to be brought out, new points of attention and development appear.

For example, the IT sector – a quite real growth point for Moldova. But in what context? Here we need to see what from the diverse IT industry will reflect the country's specificity and simultaneously be useful to the whole world. That is, local self-identification with access to the world market.

Or tourism. What exactly from the large palette of tourism can become an advantage for us, highlight us on the general market of tourist offers, and attract people?

And so on.

Thus, each branch should be analyzed (an audit of everything that exists) taking into account what was but lost (what exactly, why) and what can appear new and form the future.

To begin with, I would highlight several priority directions for Moldova:

  • IT sector (science, education, technologies, energy, ecology, accessibility)
  • Tourism (history, culture, geography, ecology, infrastructure)
  • Industry (with an innovative slant)
  • Agriculture (traditional, but with innovative tools)

This does not mean that these directions will become a dogma for centuries, but it means that with their help we can now begin to reveal ourselves to the world, to later realize ourselves as a personality. As time passes, the sectors will modify. And this is normal because the country is a living organism. The movement can start with one of the areas.

(NB!) I want to especially note that one of the most important tasks of the brand "Republic of Moldova" - not only identification and self-preservation but also the birth of new meanings for the world.

That is, the task of the brand "Republic of Moldova" - to become an innovative platform, a kind of complex and multi-vector generator of ideas.

To be the originator of an idea, to be the center where meanings arise and are honed, to be the popularizer of ideas into the world – this is the most important competitive advantage of a person and a country, demanded by the future (which, as we know, is already being formed today).

Institute of Strategic Branding

Of course, one can be an independent state consultant at the initial stage, but it is more logical and fundamental to create a separate institute in the country that would purposefully and daily engage in detailing the strategic vision of the republic as a brand.

For example, agriculture. I wrote that it should be traditional but with innovative tools. Detailing implies specifying what exactly in agriculture is desirable to highlight as a priority – viticulture and winemaking, crop production, animal husbandry, horticulture... This will partially affect industry (for example, modernization of processing enterprises). And ecology – which areas are suitable for sowing, which for planting or grazing... This same sector fits into the system of national food security. And into tourism. And will touch the IT sector, since innovative tools will be needed to increase the efficiency of agriculture...

Moreover, it should be slightly "outside the system" to preserve objectivity. But also in close interaction with the authorities, so that there is an opportunity to work not only with the vision and its accompanying elements of the brand "Republic of Moldova" but also the promptness of issuing recommendations on the movement of the country's branding (so that the idea is not lost in the process).

And it would be ideal if this institute has different sources of funding. Possibly even polar (this is not strict, but debatable). This is also desirable for preserving objectivity.

Working with the brand "Republic of Moldova", we must remember that work is effective only when it is performed by specialists (not only knowledge is important but also a certain type of thinking + the set of qualities of a sociocrat, which are listed in the article "The Paradigm of the New Era – Sociocracy") and in a complex. And also while keeping in mind that whole and main thing for which everything is done:

  • that the person is important,
  • that the state is meant to help reveal the personality in a person,
  • that it is personalities who determine the agenda of the future of their country and the planet as a whole, and therefore make both their state and other countries of the world viable, being in direct or indirect connection with them.

P.S.

Overall, the work of the institute is not for 1-2 years. It is a serious long-term project, which, due to its non-standard nature, will always be in minds and on lips.

Moreover, with a high probability, it will create a trend not only within the country but also outside RM. And in trends, it always makes sense to be at the forefront (both in terms of ideas and in terms of creating new projects/businesses).

According to my observations in the world, signs of this tendency are already emerging – atypical and still unusual for mass perception positions and organizations are being created.

  • Thus, for John Kerry, the former head of the US State Department at the Carnegie Foundation, the position of "non-staff distinguished statesman" was specially created. There has never been such a formulation, it appeared specifically for this person. Who stated that he would focus on conflict resolution areas and responses to global environmental challenges.
  • In Great Britain, the position of Minister of Loneliness has been created. Apparently, based on the fact that interpersonal connections are lost in society, and it becomes disunited, and therefore lonely.
  • In Russia, Alexey Kudrin, several times during his work at the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation recognized as the best Minister of Finance in the world, until May 2018 headed the NPF "FUTURE" and the council of the Center for Strategic Development.
  • Recently, the position of Minister of Happiness was created in the UAE. Goal: creating social well-being for a person.
  • Also in the UAE, the World Government Summit recently took place (the summit's slogan = "Forecasting Future Governments"). As a result, the Global Coalition for Happiness was created. Motto: "The world needs new forms of coalitions that would work for the well-being and happiness of peoples." Six countries joined this coalition: United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Costa Rica, Mexico, Portugal, and Slovenia.

What does all this talk about? That there is a demand for new ideas in the world, and it is groping, forming new tools for reading the changed reality.

Elena Radu,
Master of Public Administration, Strategic Branding Expert.
September 11, 2018,
Chisinau.