The Switzerland Consul General, Didier Boschung visited Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Addressing the members of the chamber, Boschung said that Switzerland is a land locked country situated in the heart of Europe and generally known for beautiful landscapes.
He said that compared to Pakistan, Switzerland is a small country in terms of area and population. But as a trading nation, Switzerland is the 15th biggest exporter in the world and approximately half of GDP is generated by the export of goods and services. Services sector comprises mainly of tourism, banking and insurance.
The industrial sector comprises chemicals, mechanical and electrical engineering, pharmaceuticals, watches and optical / medical instruments. About 99 percent of all companies registered in Switzerland belong to the category of SMEs and they provide 67 percent of all jobs.
Taking about business relations between Switzerland and Pakistan he said that both countries enjoyed good trade relations. The trade volume to about 360 million was reached in 2010. He further said that the main exports to Pakistan are pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery and watches. For the past several years, textile machines used to be the top selling Swiss item in Pakistan. He added that about 60 percent of Pakistani exports to Switzerland are textile and garments and another 23 percent are agricultural products.
Over the last decade, the Swiss foreign direct investments in Pakistan have reached over one billion US $. He added that 19 Swiss companies are operating in Pakistan, including large multinationals such as ABB, Clariant, Novartis, SGS or Roche. The business relation between Switzerland and Pakistan is well established yet there was more potential.
Talking about visa policy, he said that Switzerland has joined the Schengen Space since December 2008, the businessmen and other visitors can now enter Switzerland with the Schengen visa. The application for Swiss Schengen visa can be submitted to the Embassy of Switzerland in Islamabad via the FedEx/Gerry's visa services in Karachi or directly at the visa counter of the Embassy. President HCCI Goharullah in his welcome address said that his visit will go long way to boost up the export and import operations from and to Pakistan and Switzerland for the purpose of mutual benefit and interest of both the countries.