The Indian Minister and his Swiss counterpart recently held a virtual meeting and reiterated their desire to advance the negotiations on the Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (TEPA) between India and the European Free Trade Area.
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organization of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. These countries are not part of the European Union (EU) with which India is negotiating a separate trade agreement called the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement.
The proposed agreement covers trade in goods and services, investments, trade facilitation, customs cooperation, protection of intellectual property and public procurement. India-Switzerland Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT)which is under negotiation was also discussed.
India supported Switzerland for the joint proposal of India and South Africa in World Trade Organization (WTO) for TRIPS waiver. South Africa and India have called for the (WTO) to suspend intellectual property (IP) rights related to Covid-19 to ensure equitable sharing of vaccines and new technology to control the pandemic. A temporary ban would allow multiple actors to start production, instead of having manufacturing concentrated in the hands of a small number of patent holders.
India and Switzerland have enjoyed cordial and friendly relations since India’s Independence, based on shared values of democracy and rule of law. A Treaty of Friendship between India and Switzerland was signed at New Delhi in 1948. Since then the ties between the two countries have grown and diversified significantly.
Trade: Trade relations between India and Switzerland are special. Both countries are at distant ends with different cultures, languages, and business practices but the two managed to make their relationship quite strong which is evident from the fact that India's trade with Switzerland has increased rapidly as Switzerland was the 11th largest trading partner for India in 2018-19.
Investment: India and Switzerland have an excellent bilateral economic relationship, stable political partnerships, and strong cultural complementarities. There is a lot of opportunities for the two countries to enhance interest and activities in both areas and beyond. Switzerland invested FDI equity worth approximately USD 4.781 billion in India from April 2000 to September 2019 thus becoming the 12th largest investor and accounting for about 1.07% of total FDI in India during this period.
Science and Technology: India and Switzerland are mutually interested to work together, on joint research and development in the fields of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Information Technology, Renewable Energy and Material Science. During the visit of Swiss President to India in 2003, an inter-Governmental framework Agreement on Technical and Scientific Cooperation was signed under which an Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme (ISJRP) was launched in 2005.
Skill Training: India and Switzerland have been working together to improve the quality of life in both countries for many years. Several Institutes from both the countries have collaborated to impart the highest standards of skill training in India i.e; Bharatiya Skill Development Campus and University; Indo-Swiss Centre of Excellence, Pune; Vocational Training Center, Andhra Pradesh.
Education: India and Switzerland have always had a close relationship, especially when it comes to education. There are certain institutions in India and Switzerland that collaborate, train, and exchange knowledge for students from both countries. This helps create a bridge for mutual understanding and cooperation. It also enhances the skills of such students which is helpful in getting better jobs or pursuing studies further.
