OUTSOURCING AS A MEANS TO INCREASE A FOREIGN COUNTRY REPRESENTATION

Due to limited human and financial resources many Foreign Missions to the EU (see previous article) are unable to achieve the necessary outreach on various levels-political, cultural, business, academia. We submit that outsourcing some tasks to a selected professional can be a method to effectively expand the diplomatic network, broaden public diplomacy opportunities, increase presence at low cost and with low risk while providing depth and reach. In our proposed model, the selected professional would serve for free and would be offered a reimbursement for some of his/her expenses. Working under the supervision of the Diplomatic Mission, the selected professional would discuss with the Ambassador public relations, public diplomacy, tourism, foreign direct development as well as current or planned activities. Activities would fall into several categories:  

• 1. Communications to the public
• 2. Education on the country by giving talks and presentations
• 3. Representation at meetings and events at both governmental and non-governmental level
• 4. Active networking by attending as many events as possible, making introductions or arranging events for the Ambassador. 

In addition, the selected professional would seek commercial information for the benefit of the country’s enterprises; refer to the business opportunities provided via the Diplomatic Mission; convey commercial information to interested parties; participate in the dissemination of publicity information concerning the economic and political environment, culture, tourism etc. In short the selected professional would have a far-reaching public diplomacy, brand development and educational role designed to increase knowledge about the country. Admittedly the selected professional would need to 1) be well connected to the business, political, cultural and academia communities; 2) have an affinity with the country; 3) be financially independent and last but not least 4) be willing and able to devote time to the task. It is our view that this model would represent an important mechanism within an overall public diplomacy and branding strategy and would be worth consideration.