Your Cheat Sheet to Business Etiquette Around the World

Sponsored by SOAS  

As some first-time business travelers have learned the hard way, business customs don’t always translate overseas. If you’re brokering a deal or readying for a job, insufficient command of business etiquette abroad could cost you and your organization a business opportunity. Fortunately we can help: from the concept of “saving of face” in Asia to handshakes, you might want to avoid common pitfalls when doing business abroad with our top tips.

The exchange of business gifts is an important ritual in many countries, where they can be seen as a gesture of goodwill, a symbolic way to say “thank you” and cement business relationships. But superstitions and traditions can often muddy the waters for first-time travelers bewildered by the many layers of complexity in another culture.  

Gift-giving etiquette is not the same wherever you go, so take stock of local business traditions before you invest in a hamper. In China, for example, it’s considered poor taste to give clocks, watches, or fours of anything (the number is considered bad luck). If traveling to Malaysia, you’d be better off not wrapping up your gift in the color white (as it symbolizes death) and avoiding alcohol gifts or anything made from pork, particularly if your client is ethnic Malay. Generally, inexpensive gifts from your home country or functional items like pens and office accessories are looked on favorably.

In Singapore, the recipient is expected to decline up to three times before accepting it, while in Chile, gifts are accepted and opened straight away. The concept of “saving face” in Japan might mean that the recipient doesn’t open the gift immediately, but saves it for later, to avoid causing you embarrassment if they open it and don’t like it. Another thing to bear in mind: in some countries, it’s considered the height of rudeness to present or accept a gift with only one hand, so always use both.  

Of course, gift-giving is not a business custom everywhere in the world, particularly in Australia, France, Hungary, Italy, England, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or the United States, where your gift might be misconstrued as a bribe.