brussels-born frederic de pryck is a multilingual engineer with long experience in international company management at ceo level, and business consultancy . as the representative of the state of utah in europe from 1994 to 2014, he visited many european countries to assist utah companies finding business partners in europe. during these trips he was often struck by the large differences in culture and business etiquette among and even within european countries. he always shared these insights with the businessmen and women involved, to help them build more effective and pleasant relationships with their business partners throughout the continent. with the growing appreciation of its value, this approach is now recognized as "business or economic diplomacy". frederic de pryck recently joined the cercle international diplomatique et consulaire" (cidic), which promotes economic diplomacy. he serves as chairman of the cidic steering committee and, on behalf of cidic, as internal tutor at the brussels academy of diplomacy. "if you give respect, you will be respected. if you offend, you will be offended"