INTERFACE BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY DIPLOMACY AND POLITICAL/ECONOMIC

DIPLOMACY

- Dr. Ved Mitra

Economic diplomacy

•  Economic diplomacy is the art of serving economic security and strategic interests of the country by the use of economic instrument in conduct of State to State relations. 

• Economic diplomacy is designed to influence policy and regulatory decisions of foreign governments as well as those of international organizations.It goes beyond trade and investment to the resolution of multiple causes of international conflicts

Basic objectives of economic diplomacy

• Promotion of trade and investment

• Achieve objectives in multilateral trade negotiations

• Energy security

SELECTED TASKS OF ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY

• Influence economic and commercial policies of the host country

• Work with rule-making international bodies for shaping their decisions

• Forestall potential conflicts with foreign governments

INTERFACE BETWEEN ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY AND

SCIENCE DIPLOMACY

• S&T is also an important tool for countries to promote economic diplomacy and positively position themselves as world leaders in some research areas to promote international S&T partnerships

• China, India, Brazil and Russia have developed up robust scientific systems in parallel to their economic growth

• The governments in these newly industrializing countries explicitly take action to associate their development policy strategies with industrial policies in order to thereby increase the innovative potential in manufacturing and services

• China for example has designed an action plan for the development of science and inno vation until 2020

• World Science Forum in Budapest met and discussed the great importance of science for global development

• Structuring of further education and training measures universally and thus promoting qualified staff in all levels and sectors of the economy is a part of this exercise

• Increasing collaboration between researchers from emerging economies and already industrialized nations

• The international economic crisis shows clearly the limits of state policy and the necessity of new international forms of taxation

• It is becoming increasingly clear that independent development strategies cannot lead to a long-term transformation to a science-based economy.

• Science diplomacy is based on the premise that development can only be successful if besides national strategies the global character of development is also taken into account

• The economic diplomacy hence is an integral part of science diplomacy as it the technology affects industry and industrial produce and that helping economy

• Global challenges such as climate change, migration, the fight against poverty and the development of a global knowledge community require new common efforts in science diplomacy and thus affecting economic and state policy

How science and technology plays a role both in diplomacy

and development• Science and technology provide the objective

data for making good policy choices for implementing policies

• science and technology provide approaches and solutions to challenging development and global problems

• Science and technology are an important element in building strong international relationships, relationships that can weather good times and difficult times

• The most well known and familiar example is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has played a critical role in providing policymakers with comprehensive analyses of the scientific data regarding earth science and the changes occurring

• Managing fisheries in the oceans,particularly fisheries for stocks that cross boundary lines separating waters under the jurisdiction of different nations. To manage such fisheries, nations have established a series of regional fishery management organizations

• Another important and new example concerns biodiversity and ecosystem services

• Now turning to the second role of science and technology – addressing global challenges

• International collaborations are a necessity to address complex research questions as the scientific community is spread across the globe

• It is the area of food security that connects closely to the work you do and it is clear that the world is facing a significant challenge

• Beyond supporting the actual research, bilateral science and technology agreements also help facilitate cooperation between nations by setting forth agreed to approaches to intellectual property rights, material transfer agreements and other important research considerations

• The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) is an comprehensive international agreement which aims to enhance food security through the conservation and sustainable use of the world’s plant genetic resources

• From a diplomatic perspective science is an excellent tool for building partnerships

• Science, with its value system based on merit review, open and transparent data and reproducibility of experimental results, allows colleagues from across the globe to work together

• Science and technology is dependent on global connections

How science and technology diplomacy helps in

economic/political diplomacy:• TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND FDI The abilities to create new technology and to acquire

and adapt technologies from both external and internal sources are critical determinants of a country’s ability to compete successfully.

Given the centrality of technology to economic and

social development, and the need of technology acquisition by developing countries as a means of furthering development.It is essential that countries should be able to benefit from transfer and diffusion of technology

INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCES:

Establishment of network involving pasturing activities .

Network are the product of complex interlinkages between a wider range of enterprises.

These pasturing arrangements help to provide sources of financing .

REFRENCES 1)Chapter 4, Economic diplomacy from Kishan

Rana’s book on ‘Bilateral diplomacy’

2) Bayne, N. and Woolcock, S. (eds.) (2003), The New Economic Diplomacy:Decisionmaking and negotiation in international economic relations, Ashgate: Hampshire.

3)Berridge, G. R. (2002), Diplomacy, Theory and Practice, 2nd edition,Palgrave:Basingstoke.

4)Some considerations about the state of the art of the “new economic diplomacy.Pedro Conceição Parreira

5)Economic Diplomacy and Economic Security Peter A.G. van Bergeijk and Selwyn Moons

6)REINVENTING DIPLOMACY: A VIRTUAL NECESSITY - Gordon S. Smith

7)SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DIPLOMACY.United nations

8)Global Connections: Science and Diplomacy.by Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones

9)Science, Technology, and American Diplomacy: Background and Issues for Congress - Deborah D. Stine

10)The Economist Magazine.London