Swiss promote trade accord with India

Industry Minister Nath says India has patent legislation Keystone

A free trade agreement between Switzerland and India would be a major milestone in economic relations between the two countries, a conference in Zurich has heard.

The state secretary in the Swiss economics ministry, Jean-Daniel Gerber, said such an agreement would provide a further boost to bilateral trade and investment.

He was speaking on Wednesday at The Forum for International Business organised by the country’s main trade promotion organisation, Osec – Business Network Switzerland.

The idea of such an accord has been mooted for some time but no date has yet been set for the start of any negotiations. A joint study group is exploring the possibilities.

“One reason is the sheer size of the Indian market with a billion inhabitants, then there’s the development of the economy which has grown at rates of up to nine per cent,” Gerber told swissinfo.

He also said that since India was discussing such an accord with the European Union, it was in Switzerland’s interest to take a similar step. Otherwise Swiss companies might have less favourable conditions than, for example, competitors in Germany, Britain and Italy.

No timetable

Gerber said there was no precise timetable but he would like to see movement in the near future.

“We would like to go as rapidly as possible but it would not be prudent of me to say that it [the accord] will happen in a short time. I’m happy if it happens in the next three years.”

He reminded the audience of 600, mainly representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises, that in the framework of Switzerland’s foreign economic strategy, India had been identified as a country of high importance.

The Indian minister of commerce and industry, Kamal Nath, also encouraged further bilateral trade ties, noting that there was a “natural partnership”. There was his country’s huge market and young, skilled workforce, while Switzerland had the technology and innovation.

“In the new [global] economic architecture that’s emerging, what better country than India for Switzerland to partner with?”

Intellectual property

Nath also touched on intellectual property rights, an issue on which India has come in for much criticism because of what is considered weak protection.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is currently going through the Indian courts over patent protection for its blockbuster leukaemia drug Gleevec/Glivec.

“The ethos of India respects intellectual property. India is not a country where you can go and get a fake Rolex watch. You’ll have to go to some other country in Asia to get that.

“We’ve built in patent legislation and we want to see good implementation of the laws,” he added.

Gerber told swissinfo that India had made “quite a lot of progress” in comparison with the situation that existed three or four years ago, but there was room for improvement.

“The question is how it [the legislation] is implemented and how it is interpreted.

“We’ll have a working group with India to improve the situation. Work is in progress and it’s going in the right direction,” he said.

swissinfo, Robert Brookes in Zurich

In brief

The Forum for International Business is the largest annual foreign trade event in Switzerland.

This year’s event focused on the Indian market.

In a speech on Tuesday, Swiss Economics Minister Doris Leuthard said that at a time when entrepreneurs were conquering new markets with innovative products and services, politicians of all parties had to do everything possible to ensure that prosperity brought growth and prosperity to everyone.

Key facts

The volume of trade between Switzerland and India last year, according to provisional figures, topped SFr2.6 billion ($2.15 billion).
Swiss exports to India totalled SFr1.888 billion (a rise of 36.1% compared with the previous year).
Imports from India were valued at SFr736 million (+11.4%)
Swiss exports to India had multiplied by more than four since 1990.

SWISS-INDIAN RELATIONS

Switzerland has a long-standing relationship with India.

Next year will mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, which was concluded on August 14, 1948.

It is significant because it was the first such treaty signed by independent India with another country.

In recent years, there have been a number of high level visits between the two countries.

In January last year, the then Swiss economics minister, Joseph Deiss, led a business delegation to India.