PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR ROLE IN ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY

Abstract

In an economically driven global environment, private sector organizations have taken on a more significant role in influencing government policy, particularly in foreign relations. The study examines the interface between the business sector and government in conducting economic diplomacy, using the Philippines as a case. While it is the usual perception that the government, through its central foreign policy implementing body – the Department of Foreign Affairs - is solely responsible for developing bilateral relations with other countries, it is argued that private sector organizations representing business enterprises are also actors in economic diplomacy using their foreign linkages, overseas business transactions, and trade promotion activities. This paper addresses the central question: How do private sector organizations play a role in economic diplomacy? The study examines two prominent private sector organizations, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Philippine Exporters’ Confederation Inc. (PHILEXPORT), and the mechanisms through which they establish foreign linkages on behalf of the local business community.  Document analysis and a case study approach are adopted to determine how activities of these significant private sector organizations, particularly those relating to trade promotion, complement the government’s policy to develop the national economy by having economic diplomacy as an instrument. The study also aims to shed light on how the organizational cultures of said private sector organizations affect their ability to work with the government in pushing the country’s trade and export performance to a level comparable.