JUNE 10: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal held significant engagements with leaders of Swiss industries in Bern to deepen bilateral economic ties and capitalize on new opportunities created under the recently signed Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
During his interactions, Shri Goyal urged Swiss companies to explore India not merely as a consumer market but as a strategic base for manufacturing, innovation, talent development, and research. He highlighted India’s competitive edge—its robust economic fundamentals, skilled workforce, and investor-friendly policies.
The Minister emphasized India’s commitment to building an enabling environment for foreign investment, underpinned by transparent regulations, intellectual property protection, and targeted reforms. He invited Swiss firms to take advantage of India’s rapidly expanding digital economy, manufacturing capacity, and emerging innovation hubs.
Shri Goyal also chaired two sector-specific roundtable discussions with key Swiss industrial stakeholders. These sessions, organized with support from the Indian Embassy, focused on biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, defence, precision engineering, and emerging technologies such as cybersecurity and automation. He reiterated India’s readiness to pursue mutual recognition agreements and regulatory harmonization to facilitate smoother trade and collaboration.
In these discussions, Swiss companies praised India’s vast market, expanding middle class, and world-class engineering and scientific capabilities. Many highlighted plans to increase investments through joint ventures, R&D collaborations, and localized production for Indian and global markets.
The Minister encouraged Swiss businesses to use the EFTA Desk at Invest India for streamlined support in setting up and scaling operations. He underlined India’s openness to working closely with industry on co-developing high-value, globally competitive solutions across sectors.
Shri Goyal also interacted with members of the Switzerland Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), acknowledging their role in strengthening professional networks and promoting bilateral economic cooperation.
Overall, the engagements reflected a strong sense of alignment between Indian and Swiss economic priorities, with both sides reaffirming their commitment to long-term, innovation-led, and inclusive growth.
