Giving Gifts Etiquette

If you are visiting Kuwait and meeting with business contacts, you should bring gifts with you. A souvenir from your own country that your contact cannot buy in Kuwait is a good gift. Picture books, indigenous crafts, and anything made in your own country are all acceptable. If you can connect your company's focus to your gift, that's even better. You can give the gift at the start or end of your visit. It makes no difference whether you make your gift public or private.

Flowers are also acceptable as a present. There are no bad luck numbers, so there are no limits to how much of anything you can give. Magazines, alcohol, weapons, and drugs are inappropriate gifts. These are, in fact, poor choices anywhere in the world. If your contact has children, it's a good idea to include a small token toy or an age-appropriate gift for them. If a man must give a woman a gift, he should say it is from his wife, mother, sister, or other female relative. Gifts may be exchanged for birthdays, Ramadan, Eid, Hajj, and other celebratory occasions by extended family or very close friends, and gifts are not opened when received.