What to wear
Corporate dressing in Taiwan is conservative and formal for both males and females. Males are expected to wear dark colored suits over plain t-shirts and formal trousers while females should wear blazers over moderately loose blouses and conservative skirts or dresses. Note that it is inappropriate to wear tight-fitting clothes in the office. One should also avoid any clothes that reveal the shoulders or the things.

What to bring
Like in most countries in the world, business cards are a necessary tool for you to introduce yourself and the company you represent. Your local counterpart will greatly appreciate it if you have a Taiwanese Mandarin version of your card on the other side. Another thing that is common among Asian countries in the East, is giving of gifts. It is very common to give a counterpart a simple but inexpensive gift during the first meetings like scotch, desk accessories, or anything from your company. If you are bringing your counterpart something to express gratitude and partnership, avoid giving knives, scissors, and letter openers for it signifies cutting relationships.

What to expect
Punctuality is valued in Taiwan, and arriving at the meeting locations a few minutes ahead of time is recommended. Expect meetings to start on time and in a structured manner. Meetings about negotiations are flexible and may still change even after the meeting. However, if a specific deadline has already been set and a set of agreements were already jointly agreed upon, all parties should take it seriously, or else it will be taken as disrespectful.

Because of the conservative culture, expect females to be less engaging when shaking hands. It is common for males to be the first one to extend a hand to females, and the introduction goes along with it. With senior officers, it is customary to greet or introduce the high-ranking officers first before the others.

What you should know
The business structure in Taiwan is generally hierarchical, and an employee’s age and rank plays an important role inside the firm. When decisions are being made, the final say should come from high-ranking officers, and subordinates don’t usually question when there is already finality. However, to encourage unity in the company, managers also try to seek the opinions of other employees, to be reported to their officers for overall internal consensus in the company. Just note that Taiwanese do not rush when they are trying to decide on a huge deal, they take their time and decision-making usually takes a while.

You should know that Taiwanese tend to negotiate a lot when trying to close a deal. This also contributes to the length of time local companies’ give out finality on their decisions. Make sure you have enough know-how on your finances when meeting with local partners and that you are fully aware of how low can your products or services be offered.

Women will have no problem working in Taiwan. Like most Asian countries, females are allowed to work and gender gaps in the corporate world are towards a close as the years progress. At the moment the country’s female labor force participation is at a rate of 51%.

The following are important details you should know about corporate leaves and holiday dates in Taiwan: