The GCC area is the fifth largest market for Swiss exports after the EU, the USA, China and Hong Kong. With Swiss exports amounting to USD 5.1 billion, the United Arab Emirates is Switzerland’s most important trade partner within the GCC group, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with an export volume of USD 4.9 billion (2015). It was with representatives from these two countries, with which Switzerland enjoys a significant balance of trade surplus that the official talks of 18-21 December took place at parliamentary level covering experiences with the EFTA-GCC free trade agreement which entered into force on 1 July 2014.
National Council member Thomas Aeschi (SVP/ZG), chair of the EFTA/EU delegation, and Council of States member Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP/SG), deputy chair of the delegation, spoke with the deputy speaker of the Saudi Parliament, the deputy minister of economy and commerce and representatives from business and industry associations about future infrastructure projects and economic reforms under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which is intended to reduce dependency on oil and modernise the structure of the economy. In this context they also used the occasion to discuss potential opportunities for Swiss businesses.
The official meetings were rounded off with exchanges with representatives from a leading global tech company from Switzerland, the CEO of the world’s largest vertically integrated dairy business and the largest food and beverage producer in the Gulf region, as well as with managers from the world’s largest oil company. During the working visit, which was arranged at the initiative of the Swiss embassy in Riyadh as part of this year’s 60th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a book on the two countries’ bilateral relations was presented at a joint event with the Swiss Business Network.
Concluding the working visit, the chair of the delegation met with the chairman of the Swiss Business Council of the United Arab Emirates, board members of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and representatives from several large Swiss businesses in the EFTA-GCC working group. The focus at these talks was on diversifying and injecting dynamism into cross-border economic exchanges with the aim of safeguarding competitive advantages and reducing any discrimination against Swiss businesses in the GCC area.
The EFTA states signed a comprehensive free trade agreement with the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council on 22 June 2009, which entered into force on 1 July 2014. The agreement covers trade in industrial products (including fish and other marine products) and processed agricultural products, trade in services, government procurement and competition. More broadly it also improves market access and legal certainty for Swiss exporters (goods and services, public procurement markets).