The Free Trade Agreement between India and Switzerland is expected to be concluded by the end of 2012, Mr Rolf Frei, Consul General of Switzerland for India, said.
“Both the countries were keen on having the FTA at the earliest. The agreement will give a significant boost to bilateral trade between India and Switzerland,” he said at an interactive meeting on business opportunities in Switzerland, organised by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.
Mr Frei said “despite the global economic slowdown, our trade graph has been looking upwards.”
The two-way trade expanded from $7 billion in 2005-06 to $35 billion in 2009-10, with India being one of the most important investment destinations for Switzerland.
Switzerland has always been amongst the top foreign investors in India. It stands at the eleventh position overall and sixth in Europe in terms of investments, with a cumulative FDI inflow of $1,804.63 million from April 2000 to December 2010.
The Swiss capital stock in India is estimated at $3.5 billion while Indian capital stock in Switzerland was in the range of $550 million.
Eurozone crisis
Referring to the eurozone crisis, Mr Frei said the economic situation had resulted in a drop in exports from Switzerland. But recession was less substantial in Switzerland than in Europe, he pointed out.
He said the areas where the two countries could engage in included infrastructure, clean-tech, lifesciences, automotive, food processing, retail and precision engineering.
Earlier, Mr Frei met with the Andhra Pradesh Minister for Major Industries, Dr J. Geetha Reddy.
He expressed interest in bringing a trade delegation from Switzerland to Andhra Pradesh to explore the possibilities of expanding trade ties, especially in sectors such as chemicals, petrochemicals, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and food processing.