Conducting business overseas is a necessity today for executives who seek the upper ranks in management. With over 50% of women in the workforce today you should be aware of the challenges and advantages that you have in global business. Asia is one of the fasted growing business regions and for many female executives their first business experience. Many American women are surprised to see how few women are in management in Asian firms and they do not expect the cultural role biases that they face. Females do not necessarily walk into the business meeting with the same level of credibility that their male colleagues might have. There are steps which you can take to help ensure your credibility with Asia:

Have an introduction before you go from upper management or a credible third party. This can be done by a fax, a phone call, email or at the first meeting if necessary face to face through a formal introduction. The introduction should highlight your credentials and show that your company is endorsing you to do business on their behalf. If you are an entrepreneur send a fax and literature on your company in advance of your first meeting. Include your bio if you have a strong background (education, titles, honors etc.). One woman entrepreneur sent a video tape of herself at work with her employees in additional to company literature to illustrate this size and credibility of her firm.

Our journey started in the bustling port city of Mumbai (Bombay), home to Asia’s oldest stock exchange. Then we moved on to visit high-tech campuses in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The latter is only miles from the ancient city of Golconda, once renowned for its diamonds. From there, we were off to green Kochi on the Malabar Coast, with its many coconut trees, rice paddies and slow-moving rivers. We wound up the trip in the north – traveling to Jaipur, in hot and dry Rajasthan, then to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and, finally, to the dusty capital city of Delhi

In Delhi, I walked through the old market of Chandni Chowk, which I had read so much about. Once it was a destination for camel trains from Kashgar, traders carrying jasper and sardonyx, cinnamon logs from Madagascar and much more. Today, it’s still a busy market, lined with shops where you can buy just about anything.