Business Diplomat: Power Multipliers

How does diplomacy turn into export figures? In this part of its interview series, Business Diplomat presents the response of Chamas Awad, Founder & CEO of EuroGulf Consulting in Brussels, to the question of how well-trained business diplomats boost a country’s exports and investment attractiveness. His answer is given on behalf of his firm.

Opening: trust before sales
“In a world marked by constant geopolitical tensions, product excellence or competitive pricing alone are no longer enough. International markets do not yield to simple sales prospecting: they open to trust, relational leadership, and a mastery of sovereignty dynamics.” A seasoned business diplomat, he writes, “does not merely negotiate; they secure, accelerate, and unlock economic opportunities.”

First lever: turning risk into advantage
Emerging and strategic markets operate on “implicit codes and complex power dynamics.” Business diplomats “know how to decode these unwritten rules, anticipate regulatory shifts, and defuse bureaucratic friction.” In this way they provide the security that international investors require before committing major capital.

Second lever: access to decision-making
Where traditional sales teams reach procurement departments, business diplomats “engage directly with state leaders, sovereign wealth funds, and industry captains.” They align a company’s ambitions, or a territory’s value proposition, with the national agendas of host states, such as energy transition, digital sovereignty and logistics corridors.

Third lever: from transactions to partnerships
Drawing on his firm’s work across Europe–Middle East–Africa corridors, Awad argues that “real economic victories are not one-off deals, but strategic footholds.” Business diplomats build ecosystems of joint ventures, technology transfers and regional hubs, generating long-term value for both exports and foreign direct investment.

The logic of the response
Trust is the foundation. The three levers follow in order: reducing risk, gaining access and building lasting partnerships. The structure takes the reader from the nature of the market to the nature of the result.

The role of Business Diplomat
The platform’s mission is to give young people experience, bring a diplomatic order to the business world, and benefit states by revitalising the economy. Awad’s answer corresponds to the third aim most directly: the link between diplomatic skill and national economic benefit. Business Diplomat can prepare young professionals for the three levers he describes.

Conclusion
Trained business diplomats help countries by transforming risk, reaching decision-makers and building lasting partnerships. Business Diplomat aims to prepare a generation able to do so.