'In many significant offshore financial centres, specialist commercial judges exist where formal specialist courts do not'
The Hon. Justice L. Kawaley
Commercial Judge
Supreme Court,
Bermuda
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Commercial diplomacy is a unique profession that requires advanced specialized training and a formal qualification. Diplomacy designed to influence foreign government policy and regulatory decisions that affect global trade, intellectual property and investment. In the past commercial diplomacy concerned itself largely with negotiations on tariffs and quotas on imports. In today's more interdependent world, trade negotiations cover a far wider range of government regulations and actions affecting international commerce, including standards in health, safety, environment, and consumer protection; regulations in banking, telecommunications and accounting; competition policy and laws concerning bribery and corruption; agricultural support programs, and industrial subsidies. Commercial diplomacy encompasses the whole analysis, advocacy, coalition-building and negotiation chain that leads to international agreements on these trade-related issues.
What Practitioners of Commercial Diplomacy Must Learn
A commercial diplomacy practitioner must learn how to analyze all the factors that have a bearing on the policy decision-making process at home and abroad, including an in-depth analysis of:
- The commercial interests at stake,
- The macro-economic impact of alternative policy options,
- The political influence of all the stakeholders with commercial, policy-oriented or institutional interests,
- The domestic policy issues that may be entwined with the foreign trade issue,
- The applicable domestic and international legal provisions,
- The state of public opinion, and including the impact of media coverage and
- ........many more
Candidates for training in commercial diplomacy
The most obvious candidates for training in commercial diplomacy are the officials responsible for developing their country's international trade and investment policies and for negotiating international trade and investment agreements with other countries. What is less obvious is that all other stakeholders involved in the trade policy development and advocacy processes need the same training. Trade officials are only the most visible practitioners of commercial diplomacy. They usually are outnumbered by officials with trade-related responsibilities in many other government departments and ministries, officials from departments or ministries responsible for foreign affairs, finance, agriculture, industry, labor, health, the environment, the regulation of banks, telecommunications, air transportation, or the licensing of professionals.
Others who need instruction in commercial diplomacy include managers in the international departments of industry associations, corporations, unions and non-governmental organizations that have a stake in the outcome of trade policy decisions. In order to play an effective role in the domestic and global political advocacy and coalition-building process that precedes negotiations, these stakeholders need most of the same commercial diplomacy skills as government trade negotiators. Skill in commercial diplomacy is also required of corporate managers posted in foreign countries, who often must interact with the host government on a broad range of regulatory issues.
Another group that requires training in commercial diplomacy is the secretariat staff of international organizations that deal with global trade, investment and trade-related regulatory issues. While such officials as a rule play less of a direct role in the political management of trade issues, they can most effectively do their job if they understand the politics of trade.
Training and skills the practitioner must acquire
   
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