Defining precisely your priorities

A successful negotiation starts with the capacity of a government to identify its priorities and objectives, and to translate them in concrete negotiating objectives. The more the national authorities will be able to define precisely what they want to achieve, the less outside parties (foreign economic interests, etc.) will be able to impose their positions on the country.

The interests of a country are determined by a very wide range of factors, including its current level of development, whether or not it produces commodities, whether it has an import or export orientation, its geographical position (landlocked country or with access to the sea), whether its economy is mostly industrial or agricultural, the composition of its exports/ imports, whether it is member of WTO and/or regional and bilateral trade agreements or it seeks membership etc.

Defining national interests (and the resulting negotiating strategy) will greatly benefit from a broad national consultative process, as we will see in greater detail below, and from in-depth research and analysis. A precise identification of your objectives will also facilitate the setting up of coalitions with countries having similar interests.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20