Markit wrote
I guess I want to find a non-invasive way of telling my friend, who has to dine with foreigners on a regular basis, what he is doing and what it means to his being accepted as a full-value business partner without offending him or affecting our relationship.
I'd take the scenic route.... get him talking about his relationships with these important foreigners, hopefully he'll get to either complaining about something or other or asking your advice... you then go off at a tangent with small snippets of 'doing business with bule' (the stuff you don't get on an MBA course)... then ease into the core topic.
I often take the scenic route with friends in jakarta or China when I spot something that I know for sure is going to screw the deal for them.
