Commercial Diplomacy and Its Role in the 21st Century

Abstract

As a result of stability in the field of international relations and the absence
of acute security threats in many countries and regions of the world (this
applies to the EU as well), and as a consequence of the influence of
globalization in particular, the importance of the economic dimension of
foreign policy is more accentuated at the beginning of the 21st century.
Therefore, commercial diplomacy is more important as well, and at the
same time, the character of its functions changes, which is the main object
of research in this study. In the first part, a brief historical survey of
functions of commercial diplomacy, from their very beginnings to their
present shape, is drafted. In the second chapter, the term commercial
diplomacy is defined, and related terms are described as well. In the third
part, the following basic functions of commercial diplomacy (as
implemented in contemporary practice) are analyzed: trade promotion and
development, investment promotion, economic-information functions,
political-legislative functions, development aid assistance and state
promotion. The fourth part of this work is focused on the issue of
transnational companies (TNCs), whose number rose dramatically in the
last few decades, and at present, this subject is considered to be one of the
most important factors influencing the character of commercial diplomacy
both currently and in the future. The author concludes that commercial
diplomacy will be focused particularly on small and medium sized
enterprises in the future. At the same time, the complexity of functions of
commercial diplomacy will rise, particularly as a result of a diffusion of the
economic and political dimensions of foreign policy.