Business 265to misinterpretation. In a worst case scenario, you could be
perceived to be talking for your government. Unless you are
a government representative there for that specifi c purpose
(in which case you will have specifi c instructions), comments
on your government’s policies or their government’s policies
could have serious unfortunate repercussions. Egyptians will
rarely express a personal opinion about their government or
offi cials that is, in any way, negative if there are more than
two people present (unless, of course, that is their business).
They expect you to follow a similar stance.
Discussing sex or telling dirty jokes is not in the best taste
either. Once I prepared a briefi ng sheet for some American
university offi cials and duly reminded them to avoid dirty
jokes and discussions of sex. After the meeting (all the
participants were men), one of my colleagues quickly came
up to me and said, “We didn’t know what to do. They started
telling us dirty jokes.” There are a couple of ways to view this
type of behaviour. First, your counterparts may well be trying
to show you how cosmopolitan they are, thinking that you
expect this type of conversation. Second, they may really like
dirty jokes. In either event, you may very well lose respect if
you start chiming in with, “Have you heard the one about...?”
In any event, whether you fi nd the conversation distasteful
or just in bad form, not reacting at all or responding with
only the very slightest smile will usually get you out of an
awkward situation. This is not the place to ask where you
can fi nd a prostitute.
Nepotism
I hate using the word nepotism—it has such negative
connotations in so many countries. Nepotism is defi ned
as favouritism shown to relatives or close friends. Well, in
Egypt—where so much is based on personal knowledge
and trust—logically, you fi nd a great deal of favouritism
or patronage to family and close friends. It is accepted,
expected, and the appropriate way to conduct business
affairs. This is how business has been conducted for
millennia. You would never consider doing business with
someone you don’t know or whose reputation cannot be