I am sure that Switzerland, with its modern economic structure, its potential in know-how and innovative high technology products, can be an interesting partner for Russia in the process of realising its ambitious modernising efforts,” Schneider-Ammann told Moscow’s chamber of commerce on Monday during a four day trade mission to Russia.
After the signing ceremony he said it was now up to businesses to find partners and to get an entry into the Russian market. He pointed out that this cooperation would help preserve jobs in Switzerland.
Swiss aims
Switzerland’s stated mission in Russia is to concentrate on aiding economic reform while avoiding political interference. In concrete terms, this can be seen in such things as trade delegation visits and the participation of Zurich’s Technopark and the Federal Institute of Technology in the Skolkovo high-tech industrial park being built near to Moscow.
But it is also evident in Switzerland’s international efforts to bring Russia into the World Trade Organisation. Russian negotiations with the WTO have already lasted 20 years with no immediate conclusion in sight.
Schneider-Ammann described Switzerland’s external economic strategy as including mandates to encourage internationally recognised trade rules and to “integrate the largest possible number of countries into the global economy”.
Russia’s accession to the WTO partially hinges on it ditching protectionist measures that favour domestic industries – a reform that would aid Swiss companies trying to enter the market.
Such a move would also help to seal a free trade agreement (FTA) currently being negotiated between the European Free Trade Association (Efta) states, of which Switzerland is a member, and the customs union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
The FTA and Russia’s WTO accession are therefore closely linked, although the one does not depend on the other.
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