Bridging the Gulf
Jolyon Kimble reflects on political dialogue in the Gulf and concludes that public affairs professionals require a different approach when seeking outcomes in the Middle East
 |
| Jolyon Kimble: Kuwait is different territory |
Sometime back in June 2009 the Association of Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), the trade association for the civil engineering industry in the UK, invited me to address their autumn conference in Abu Dhabi. The conference was titled ‘Working in the GCC: Addressing the Legacy of the Credit Crunch’.
ACE and I agreed that as well as the sessions on contractual issues and insurance requirements there should be a session on political risk management. The idea was to suggest that while there were standard, accepted methods of protecting a company’s operations in the Gulf, public affairs was often overlooked, and there was competitive advantage and plain common sense in mitigating risk through stakeholder engagement.
ACE kindly asked me to speak for 20 minutes and take questions for 10, with a panel discussion to follow. For this I suggested Frank Kane, Senior Business Correspondent for Abu Dhabi’s The National and formerly of The Observer. Frank, ever helpful and with a wealth of experience to offer, said yes. We were joined by Sean Brierley, Content Director for EMAP Middle East, and Rob Denman, Editor in Chief and CEO of Pathfinder Business.
I decided that my presentation had to be in two parts, the first on the culture of operating in the Gulf (with plenty of scope for argument), the second a dedicated teardown of stakeholder engagement to show why it was necessary and how it could be done.
Presentation policy
One thing about Kuwait, where I am based, is that there are plenty of presentations, especially when you are working in the oil industry. Over the summer I had put together a six-point plan for an integrated communications strategy, robust enough I hoped to lay the foundations for the next 20 years of the oil industry.
I had a heavily simplified slide that summarized this. I had also been studying the UK’s Crossrail mega-project to understand stakeholder engagement around modern infrastructure schemes in the West, and I had used this as a best practice benchmark, at least on public consultation. I could use this as an exemplar of differences between the west and the GCC. It was crude, but I figured the point was to spark a debate.
The six step methodology is quite straightforward. It embraces:
• Internal Communications
• Branding
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Media Management
• Political lobbying
• CSR
I outlined how these six workstreams can be staggered and blended together to produce an integrated, strategic plan that is truly scalable. I came at this from a slightly different angle to some PA practitioners as I also experience the same daily frustrations as the audience.
I am currently managing a three year contract in Kuwait and I understand the contractual issues that can arise. The difference between my perspective and that of some of others in the audience is that I think this can be a long term opportunity for those who can afford to stick it out.
I also believe that the best chance any business has of getting paid is to use its leverage and its connections. Many businesses pursue legal avenues when building networks of influence would be less costly and far more productive.
When it comes to engagement, you can either do this collectively or on your own. Individually you are exposed, so I suggested the delegates use other vehicles including ACE – it was there to provide the ‘air cover’ and strength in numbers. Nothing works better in the Gulf than a proxy to draw the heavy fire while real business gets done.
However, it has to be accepted that you cannot simply import a western or Asian template for public affairs and hope it will work in the Gulf. These are young countries that never went through an industrial revolution and the political models and levels of institutional maturity are vastly different.
I explored these and lots of other issues: tribalism vs. meritocracy, conservatism vs. liberalism, discretion and relationships, political interference and wavering, all issues that have affected business in the Gulf since the discovery of oil and before. Then I discussed how the six steps I had discussed could be used to mitigate all these risks.
Later, during the panel discussion, we looked at other themes, including how far delegates should expect the international press to fight their corner. It is safe to say that the journalists had a slightly less hawkish view than the delegates. Equally, there was no timidity, only pragmatism. In the Gulf, Realpolitik is the formula for success.
The presentation is available at www.acenet.com. I would be delighted to hear your views, especially from those who have worked in the GCC and ACC.
The party is over, now it is time for the Gulf to pay the bill, by Frank Kane, is available at www.thenational.ae
Jolyon Kimble is Director of Middle East, Africa and Asia for Sovereign Strategy
|
