Doing Business in: Soudi Arabia
Words | Mark McCrum WESTERN VISITORS TO THE KINGDOM of Saudi Arabia should be ready to leave their existing ideas of how to behave on the plane. Watching Saudi women slipping the universal abaya over their clothes as they get ready to land gives some idea of the culture shock waiting for you on the other [...]
Words | Mark McCrum
WESTERN VISITORS TO THE KINGDOM of Saudi Arabia should be ready to leave their existing ideas of how to behave on the plane. Watching Saudi women slipping the universal abaya over their clothes as they get ready to land gives some idea of the culture shock waiting for you on the other side of customs.
The dress code is strict. Visiting women should always fully cover arms, legs, shoulders and head; only the face, hands and feet may be visible. Men should leave at home any shorts that stop above the knee.
Segregation of the sexes is central here. Though women are starting to break through long-established boundaries in some areas – such as television – in general business is run by men. Western notions of women’s rights simply don’t apply. It is still illegal, for example, for women to drive, nor maythey travel in public except with their husband or close family members.
For visitors this means being wary of cross-gender handshakes: if greeting a Saudi of the opposite sex wait for them to extend a hand. You should also watch your behaviour if out in public with fellow expatriates. Even social kissing is not acceptable between men and women.
These strictures accepted, you should find great hospitality in Saudi Arabia. Long-established Arab traditions of making guests welcome still apply. If you are invited for a meal, for example, you will not be expected to pay, though making a token offer to pick up the tab is acceptable.
Among the segregated sexes, you may notice that people are in general more touchy-feely than they are in the West. A Saudi man may take another man’s hand to emphasise a point, or as a sign of friendship. People often stand closer than you may be used to.
Saudi names follow a simple pattern. The given name is followed by bin or ibn (literally ‘from’, but meaning ‘son of’) followed by the given names of father and grandfather and then a family name preceded by al- (meaning ‘from the house of’). Women follow this system too, though separated by the connective bint or binti (meaning ‘daughter of’).
Titles such as professor (ustadh), engineer (mohandas) and doctor (doctor) are always used. You address someone by their title and first name, even if that title is shaikh. When you get on more familiar terms with a Saudi, you may be invited to use their kunya, whereby you refer to them as Abu (‘father of’) followed by the name of their firstborn child.
Many Saudis have been educated in the West, so will have a thorough grasp of Western attitudes. But Arab ways of doing things apply at home. Personal relationships are key, and initial meetings will be as much about getting to know you as the business in hand. Allow plenty of time for meetings, and don’t be offended or put out if they are interrupted by other visitors or business: this is entirely normal and doesn’t reflect in any way on you or your proposals.
It’s as well to remember that before the discovery of oil, the Kingdom relied on skill in trading to prosper. In Saudi Arabia you are dealing with one of the oldest merchant cultures in the world, awash with expert negotiators. Even silence may be used as a bargaining tool.
Religion is at the centre of this society. There are prayer breaks five times a day, details of which are printed in the daily newspapers.
Businesses in the Kingdom generally open at nine in the morning, close for Dhurhr prayer just after midday, then open for half an hour again before closing for the afternoon. They then reopen between 5pm and 10pm. As the Muslim holy day is Friday, the business week runs from Saturday to Wednesday, with Thursday an optional working day (much like our Saturday). So when they say “Thank God it’s Friday,” in Saudi Arabia they mean it literally.
Mark McCrum is the author of The International Guide to Doing the Right Thing (Profile Books £7.99)
