Switzerland And India Seek To Boost Bilateral Trade
by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus
12 November 2003

During his official visit to India, Swiss President Pascal Couchepin observed that there is much potential for trade growth between the two nations, acknowledging that the volume at present was somewhat disappointing.

"Taking into account the complementarities of the Swiss and the Indian economy, the current volume of bilateral trade and investment is much below what can be achieved," Couchepin told a New Delhi conference hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industries and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Though there exists both a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and a Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement between the two nations, Indian Minister of state for External Affairs Vinod Khanna agreed with the Swiss President that bilateral trade, which in 2001/02 stood at $1 billion, was below par.

However, Mr Khanna noted that there has been a steady increase in exports of of software services to Swiss banks, stock exchanges and other financial institutions, which stood at a level of $66.1 million in 2001/2002.

.