Belgium: Gift Giving
From ExecutivePlanet.com
Selecting and presenting an appropriate business gift
It is not usually part of Belgian business culture to give or receive gifts.
If you do wish to give a present to a particularly close business associate, for example on closure of a deal, you should not include your business card with it or give anything featuring your company logo.
By this time you should have become familiar with your counterpart's tastes and be in a position to select something that he or she would genuinely appreciate regardless of cost; if not, then it is probably not appropriate to give anything at all.
As a standby, it is always handy to bring something from your homeland--a coffee-table book or some representative artefact--or to have some interesting ideas for an impromptu gift [e.g. a bottle of something rare or unusual] should the need arise.
Gifts will be opened in front of the giver and you should do the same if you are the recipient.
If you are entertained in public, then the easiest way of giving thanks is to return the compliment and host your own party, dinner, trip to the opera, or whatever.
It is quite rare to be invited into a Belgian's home so, if you enjoy this privilege [most likely in Flanders], you must be certain to behave accordingly. Belgians already know that they make the finest chocolates in the world, so it is probably best to take flowers for your hostess [not chrysanthemums, lilies or red roses and, in accordance with the old European tradition, an uneven number that is not thirteen] and perhaps a bottle of spirits for your host. Any gift should be presented on arrival.
Just as importantly, you must send a hand-written thank-you letter to your hosts to reach them the next day. You might also send flowers [if you have not already given some] or a basket of fruit as a token of gratitude and appreciation.
There is no harm in sending a New Year's greetings card to business associates as an expression of thanks and as a way of maintaining contact.
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