Economic diplomacy is essential to economic growth. Hegemony in global politics requires the country’s ability to build on its economic foreign policy relations with global institutions.
The focus on international institutions for some politicians and scholars has always been on the role of multilateral institutions, such as the United Nations, World Economic Forum and Bretton Woods institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the World Trade Organisation. The narrow focus on such institutions neglects the role played by economic diplomacy through embassies and consulates.
Due to the fact that the embassies and consulates have become political recycling bases, their number in the global arena has risen without any results. Some embassies and consulates exist in countries that South Africa has not been able to create any economic bilateral relations with. This does not mean that political and cultural relations are not crucial, but that efforts have to be supplemented by economic relations through the notion of economic diplomacy.
The Chinese have proven to be the best players in this game through the “non-interference” foreign policy outlook. China is not concerned with the task of building institutions that will enhance and assimilate its political, economic and social ideas. Instead, the Chinese Embassy plays a pivotal role in building economic hubs meant to expand Chinese corporations, investments and to some extent create sites to dump Chinese products in the economy of the host country.
It's taken us 25yrs to figure this out. At this rate we might just be ready for 6IR, never mind 4IR.