Doing Business in India and China

Entrepreneurs have a number of resources locally to help them prepare for trips to China and India. Lets start with China.

First, do some background reading on the web. The Country Commercial Guide put out by the US Embassy in Beijing is excellent. To drill down further, the US Dept of Commerce also has excellent market research reports on a  variety of sectors available on line at no cost, one example would be "China: Chinese Software and IT Services Market. "

Next , the NC Dept of Commerce has an office in China - ready to help you. Mr William Chu is based in Hong Kong and travels throughout mainland China helping NC companies.

Lastly, there are a number of organizations in NC focused on chinese culture such as the  Confcusious Center at NCSU . In addition, the NC China Center and the NC Chinese Business Association are both good venues to make contact with Chinese business people here in NC who have great links back to China.

Lastly, I know you've all heard it a million times, but these trips need to be about building relationships. The most important part of planning a trip is the  follow up. Be prepared to stay in touch with the contacts you made during the trip via phone and email and as time allows- get back on a plane and head back over there!

Please let me know how we can help!

You can't establish a meaningful sales beach head in any country without an asset "in country" who is fully integrated into that society, no matter how much homework you do. the person will probably be a citizen living in-country, but could be a green card holder/naturalized US citizen living in the USA.

Further, that person should have a background working for US companies. And, for the developing world, if he/she does not have an established track record of traveling back & forth to the USA, the US Govt will not issue a visa for travel to the US (for training or whatever).

If you have a specific question contact me at garyp@nairusa.com

Brent,

Wanted to quickly respond to your question about the foregn corruption practices. Yes, indeed one would have to be mindful of the FCPA while doing business in India.

If you read through the department of Justice 's information on this, they have a specific section which talks about the responsibility  that a US Business has to undertake due diligence to make sure they know who they are dealing with...

You should seek the advice of counsel and consider utilizing the Department of Justice's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Opinion Procedure for particular questions relating to third party payments.

The FCPA prohibits corrupt payments through intermediaries. It is unlawful to make a payment to a third party, while knowing that all or a portion of the payment will go directly or indirectly to a foreign official. The term "knowing" includes conscious disregard and deliberate ignorance. The elements of an offense are essentially the same as described above, except that in this case the "recipient" is the intermediary who is making the payment to the requisite "foreign official."

Intermediaries may include joint venture partners or agents. To avoid being held liable for corrupt third party payments, U.S. companies are encouraged to exercise due diligence and to take all necessary precautions to ensure that they have formed a business relationship with reputable and qualified partners and representatives. Such due diligence may include investigating potential foreign representatives and joint venture partners to determine if they are in fact qualified for the position, whether they have personal or professional ties to the government, the number and reputation of their clientele, and their reputation with the U.S. Embassy or Consulate and with local bankers, clients, and other business associates. In addition, in negotiating a business relationship, the U.S. firm should be aware of so-called "red flags," i.e., unusual payment patterns or financial arrangements, a history of corruption in the country, a refusal by the foreign joint venture partner or representative to provide a certification that it will not take any action in furtherance of an unlawful offer, promise, or payment to a foreign public official and not take any act that would cause the U.S. firm to be in violation of the FCPA, unusually high commissions, lack of transparency in expenses and accounting records, apparent lack of qualifications or resources on the part of the joint venture partner or representative to perform the services offered, and whether the joint venture partner or representative has been recommended by an official of the potential governmental customer.

What trade missions are scheduled for India and China in the near future?