Swiss-American relations in spotlight
The Swiss foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, is travelling to the United States where she will hold talks with her US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, on Monday.
She will discuss the question of an additional further Red Cross emblem with Rice, and United Nations reforms during a stop in New York.
As the depository state of the Geneva Conventions, Switzerland is closely following the debate concerning a third symbol, after the cross and crescent, for the Geneva-based Red Cross movement.
Switzerland has offered to organise a conference later this year to resolve the contentious issue (see related items).
In a statement, the Swiss foreign ministry said Calmy-Rey would also “discuss bilateral relations between Switzerland and the USA and outline common areas of future cooperation”.
The Swiss cabinet decided to open exploratory talks with Washington on a free trade agreement earlier this month.
Important investments
Calmy-Rey will be followed to Washington by the economics minister, Joseph Deiss, who will travel to the US capital next month.
The US is Switzerland’s second most important market after Germany, taking 10.4 per cent of Swiss exports and is the most important for Swiss investments.
In turn, the US is the largest investor in Switzerland.
A meeting with representatives of the US Congress “to consolidate the overall orientation” is also planned.
The Swiss foreign minister will travel on to the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday where she will hold talks with UN officials, including Secretary General Kofi Annan, on sweeping reforms to the world body.
swissinfo with agencies
Switzerland represents US interests in Iran and Cuba.
Switzerland was the sixth largest direct foreign investor in the US in 2003.
Around 600 Swiss companies employ more than 500,000 people in the US.
About 650 US companies are located in Switzerland and many have chosen Switzerland as their European headquarters.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.