Message from Ambassador of Switzerland

I am pleased to address the readers of this special supplement published by Daily Business Recorder to mark the 720th National Day of Switzerland. I wish that this publication will present a comprehensive picture of my country and will provide useful information on bilateral relations between Switzerland and Pakistan.
In terms of area and population, compared to Pakistan, Switzerland is a smaller country. It has a population of 7.5 million spread over an area of 41,285 Km2. Its economy ranks 1st among 139 countries in competitiveness and liberalism as evaluated by the World Economic Forum's report on global competitiveness.
Bilateral relations were established between Switzerland and Pakistan soon after the latter's birth. The first diplomatic mission of Switzerland was opened in Pakistan in 1949. Bilateral relations between the two countries are based on trust and good will, and I am glad to state that these relations continue to strengthen further with the passage of time.
Presently, nineteen large Swiss companies have operations in Pakistan and it is estimated that their investment in Pakistan has crossed 1 billion US Dollars over the last ten years. Such valuable contribution by Swiss companies like Nestlé, ABB, Novartis, Roche, Clariant, Habib Metropolitan Bank, etc has made Switzerland one of the top foreign direct investors in Pakistan. Besides this, there are 200 strategic alliances between businessmen of Switzerland and Pakistan and by virtue of this the trade between the two countries reached a half billion dollars.
Switzerland exports pharmaceuticals, machinery, precision instruments, chemicals, watches, etc to Pakistan while imports mainly textile and agriculture products. To promote bilateral trade relations further between the two countries, Swiss Business Council (SBC) was established in 2008 by the private sector. SBC has been playing a significant role to strengthen economic relations between Switzerland and Pakistan in collaboration with the Swiss Asian Chamber of Commerce in Zurich. In May 2011, a delegation of Pakistani business leaders travelled to Switzerland to inform about business opportunities and to attract more Swiss investment into Pakistan.
Apart from trade, Switzerland has also been offering aid to Pakistan since 1966 through Swiss Agency of Development and Co-operation (SDC), one of the wings of Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland to disperse aid. It gives me immense pleasure to state that SDC has invested over time more than 700 million USD in Pakistan through its development programs. Besides direct support, SDC is also supporting international organisations such as the ICRC, WFP, UN-HABITAT with funds and seconded staff. SDC through its development programs also helped the reconstruction in the towns of the province of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the massive destruction caused by earthquakes in 2005. SDC also was in the forefront to provide rescue services during the floods last year. In this regard, Swiss government provides 10 helicopters to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to cope with such emergency situations in the future. New development and humanitarian assistance programs are also launched by SDC to provide support after the floods. Besides SDC, Swiss population also donated over 50 million USD through Swiss NGOs to the flood victims in Pakistan.
I am confident that our relations will continue to flourish in the future and bring the people of our two countries even closer. I would also like to congratulate Daily Business Recorder for taking such an excellent initiative of publishing this supplement and wish them success in their endeavours to further strengthening bilateral and economic relations between Pakistan and Switzerland.