ABSTRACT
Almost by stealth, the business world, dominated by the private sector, has become the centrepiece of economic diplomacy. It is certainly at the heart of promotional activity conducted by governments, whether it is focused on trade, investments, technology or other sectors such as tourism, education for foreign students, and scientific collaboration with overseas partners. We see in effect a series of public-private partnerships (PPPs), involving individual business enterprises, and more frequently their collective groups, such as associations and chambers, in close collaboration with government entities. State owned enterprises also participate, but have been receding in importance in most countries. The financial crisis has obliged the government to take over failing banks in some industrial countries, while the state remains a powerful actor in China. But elsewhere state owned enterprises often come off second best when compared with the private sector, in entrepreneurship, dynamism and overseas earnings, except where they retain monopoly control. Singapore is one of the exceptional places where state enterprises, such as Temasek, act with much entrepreneurial gusto, but then 'Singapore Inc.' describes well the unified manner in which varied entities in that city-state jointly tackle overseas opportunities.
