Commercial diplomacy

Commercial diplomacy is diplomacy that focuses on development of business between two countries. It aims at generating commercial gains in the form of trade and inward and outward investment by means of business and entrepreneurship promotion and facilitation activities in the host country. Commercial diplomacy is pursued with the goal of gaining economic stability, welfare, or competitive advantage.

As a term, "commercial diplomacy" emerged in the second half of the twentieth century (e.g., Joseph, 1965; Corbet, 1972), but the concept certainly existed in previous centuries. In literature the concepts of economic diplomacy and commercial diplomacy are often used interchangeably. Definitions of both concepts vary, and consequently the relationship between them is also described differently. Some authors argue that commercial diplomacy is a subset of economic diplomacy. It is certain, however, that both kinds of diplomacy are "irrevocably intertwined" and thus "distinct [but] obviously closely related to [each other]".