The first part of the Council of States presidential visit took the delegation to Jakarta and Lombok, Indonesia. The Southeast Asian country is the third largest democracy in the world and is expected to have the fourth largest economy by 2050.
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the EFTA States and Indonesia was approved by a majority of the Swiss electorate in a referendum in March 2021 and came into force on 1 November, the first day of Mr Kuprecht’s working visit. In the talks with their Indonesian partners, Mr Kuprecht and Mr Würth emphasised that the approval of the agreement through Switzerland’s system of direct democracy gave it particular legitimacy from Switzerland’s point of view.
The Swiss delegation and representatives from Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment discussed various possibilities for closer cooperation between Switzerland and Indonesia on climate matters, not just with a view to Indonesia’s forthcoming G20 presidency. The meeting with the secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Dato Lim Jock Hoi, addressed ASEAN’s current key issues, which include the crisis in Myanmar and talks with China on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea.
Indonesia has been one of SECO's priority countries for economic cooperation and development since 2009. The Council of States president took the opportunity during his stay in Indonesia to visit the Politeknik Pariwisata Lombok (PPL), a vocational school for tourism on the island of Lombok that is supported by SECO. SECO offers the school technical support in developing its curriculum and its teaching capacity as well as in the cooperation with the tourism sector and business. Mr Kuprecht also met on this occasion with the vice-governor of the province of Nusa Tenggara Barat, to which Lombok belongs.
The Swiss delegation spent 3 to 6 November in Bangkok, where it met with the presidents of both parliamentary chambers, the trade and transport ministers and the Thailand-Switzerland Parliamentary Friendship Group.
The focus of the visit to Thailand was on the efforts to resume negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement between the EFTA States and Thailand. Further topics that were discussed included the political situation in Thailand and cooperation on combating climate change. Switzerland and Thailand intend to conclude an agreement on climate protection, enabling Switzerland to offset carbon emissions with climate projects in Thailand.
Switzerland and Thailand are celebrating 90 years of bilateral relations this year. Thailand is home to around 10,000 Swiss nationals, the largest Swiss community in Asia. Mr Kuprecht and Mr Würth met with representatives of the expatriate community during their visit to Bangkok. They also participated in a virtual town hall meeting organised by the Swiss embassy.