Diplomacia económica em ação

: estudo de caso

Abstract

Entrepreneurs are increasingly investing on the internationalization of their companies in order to expand their markets of operation, and therefore maximize their profits. One of the sectors that has shown a relevant evolution in exports is the agro-food sector, and more precisely the sub-sector of fruit, vegetables and flowers, which has increased by 115% in the last decade, thus contributing to a growth in the weight of exports in the country's Gross Domestic Product in recent years. In this process, economic diplomacy is at the service of companies, in order to support the business sector to achieve better results in foreign markets. This dissertation aims to investigate the role of public and private actors of economic diplomacy in the processes of internationalization of the fruit, vegetables and flowers subsector to the German market. The research methodology used is the case study, with an an exploratory and descriptive character. To this end, interviews were carried out with AICEP managers, a senior manager of the sectoral association Portugal Fresh and a manager of a business cooperative, responsible for the export of citrus fruit to Germany. The conclusions of the study indicate that the concerted action of the intervening parties in both spheres of economic diplomacy is more advantageous in terms of supporting the internationalization of companies. In terms of AICEP's action, it aims to provide global support to the national economy, geared towards valuing and boosting business, providing support through its presence in foreign markets, and mainly assuming information functions. In other hand, the sectorial association, Portugal Fresh seeks to promote the economic sector and its associates, through support focused on dissemination of information and organization of commercial missions and fairs in internal and external markets.

Date of Award	6 Jul 2021
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ana Lourenço (Supervisor)