Interview of His Excellency Ambassador Amitava Tripathi
 by
Mr. Harun Riaz and  Mr. Jai Narayan 
 

1. Excellency, what, according to you, could be the most inspiring factor that has kept this relationship of more than five decades not only stable but made it stronger today?

India and Switzerland have enjoyed cordial and friendly relations ever since the 'Treaty of Friendship and Establishment of Diplomatic Relations' was signed between the two countries in 1948. Diplomatic missions were opened in New Delhi and Berne respectively soon thereafter. Since Switzerland has never been a colonial power, there was no baggage of history for the two nations to carry in building up their bilateral relationship. With India adhering to the principle of Non-Alignment, as enunciated by our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and Switzerland's pursuit of its age-old tradition of political neutrality, there has been little occasion for friction between the two countries since the establishment of our diplomatic relations. Switzerland has been an important trading partner for India even before we attained independence. It has also been a significant source for high technology for a range of Indian industries including textiles, precision machinery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals etc. Periodic high level visits between the two countries including, most recently, that of our President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in May 2005, have greatly bolstered our understanding. With its beautiful topography, Switzerland is an important destination for Indian tourists and has been attracting around 80,000 Indians per annum in recent years. There are also a significant number of Swiss tourists, anywhere between 25,000-30,000, who visit India each year. The 8,000 strong Indian community living in Switzerland is largely made up of professionals and academics who have helped raise India's profile in this country. Understandably, all these factors have helped contribute to a stable and mutually beneficial relationship between India and Switzerland.

2. How successful was President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's visit to Switzerland in 2005. What were the issues that came up for discussion? Is any high level visit from either side in the offing?

Our Honourable President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam paid a State visit to Switzerland from May 25-29, 2005 as the guest of the then President of the Swiss Confederation, H.E. Mr. Samuel Schmid. During the four-day long visit, President had extensive interactions with senior members of the Swiss Government, as well as Swiss business, academic and research institutions. In recognition of our President's major contributions to the world of Science, the Swiss Government even declared May 26, 2005 to be "Science Day". Bilateral talks between the two sides covered areas relating to economic exchange, cooperation in the fields of defence, environment, scientific research, international relations etc. The visit served to strengthen further the bilateral relations between India and Switzerland and gave considerable fillip to scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries.

3. Seeing the Indo-Swiss trade pattern in the last ten years, it appears that India could not step up its efforts to have a favourable trade with Switzerland. What are the major reasons, you feel, that come in the way for India to strike a reasonable balance of trade with Switzerland?

Indo-Swiss bilateral trade has been developing at a fast clip. Between 2003 and 2004, India's exports to Switzerland grew by 9.6% and this figure doubled to 19.1% between 2004 and 2005. In the current year, figures available up to end June 2006 show a growth of 20.36% over the same period in 2005. Swiss exports to India have been increasing at an even faster pace. Between 2003 and 2004, Swiss exports to India grew by 37.4% and between 2004 and 2005 by 34.33%. Between January and June 2006, the figures reflect a jump of 50% over the same period in 2005. Overall trade between the two countries is expected to cross the US $ 2 billion mark by the end of the year. The primary reasons for greater Swiss exports to India are two-fold:

(i) significant imports of sophisticated Swiss manufacturing goods such as machinery, spare parts, pharmaceutical products etc. by India and
(ii) an important segment of India's exports to Switzerland coming through EU countries and not getting reflected in bilateral trade figures.

There is no need to be unduly concerned by the trade deficit that India currently has against Switzerland since the hi-tech products we import from this country greatly help Indian industry to compete in other international markets besides meeting essential domestic demands. What is more significant is that the two-way bilateral trade has been growing satisfactorily over the past several years and that this trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future, going by the ever-growing traffic of Swiss business-visa seekers to India.

4. What are the major Indian sectors offering potential for Swiss investment- both in terms of technology and equity? How is India placed as a manufacturing base for Swiss companies?

Until recently, India's most noteworthy achievement in the economic sphere, following the opening up of the economy in the early 1990s, was in the ITC, bio-tech and pharmaceutical sectors. In recent years, India has, however, started focussing on the manufacturing sector as well, including industries such as textiles, automobiles, chemicals etc. In my view, India provides across the board opportunities to Swiss investors and it is really up to them to decide where they would like to put in their money. For example, while Credit Suisse and UBS have been outsourcing some of their software requirements to Indian companies, such as TCS, WIPRO, Satyam computers etc., Novartis has been farming out some of its R&D activities to Indian pharmaceutical companies. The Swiss giant HOLCIM has become a major player in the cement industry. Other Swiss companies like Nestle, ABB, Sulzer are also involved in the production of processed-food, electrical machinery and engineering items through direct investments. Swiss companies can also play an important role in India's infrastructure development as has been the case with the Swiss Company Unique's involvement in the Green Field Airport in Bangalore.

5. Do you think that the current foreign investment and industrial policies are sufficient enough to attract the Swiss investments into India? Don't you think that the Indian Government should take country-specific measures depending on the requirements of the concerned countries like Switzerland?

While I have heard periodic complaints of India not moving fast enough with its reform programme from certain Swiss business circles, going by the trend of Swiss investments in India, I notice that they find the Indian economy sufficiently attractive for investment purposes. At a time when India is engaged in a complex web of trade negotiations at international, regional and bilateral levels, I am not sure whether any purpose will be served in trying to tailor country specific measures for Switzerland. The volume of trade needs to be larger to justify such a course. What we really have to ensure is to sustain our growing integration with the global economy, at least on par with our South-East and East Asian neighbours, so that a combination of incentives and the growing size of the Indian market ensures desirable flow of foreign investments into the Indian economy.

6. How is the Indian Mission working towards making Swiss investments in India more attractive?

The Indian Embassy in Berne has been working very closely with the Swiss Ministry of Economy (SECO) and its various organisations such as OSEC and SOFI as well as the Swiss India Chamber of Commerce to encourage private sector engagement. The Embassy maintains a website that provides essential information on business opportunities in India. We have been also assisting the participation of Indian companies in BSMs and in various sectoral fairs in Switzerland such as gems and jewellery, automobiles etc.

7. How can India as one of the world software leaders get stronger hold in Switzerland? Is IT policy favourable enough to make inroads into Swiss IT market?

India already enjoys a fairly strong position in providing IT services to a range of Swiss companies including the Swiss Telecom and the Swiss Railways SBS. There is hardly a day passes without Swiss business interests seeking visas to visit India so that they can outsource their needs to leading IT companies such as TCS, WIPRO, Satyam Computers etc. Since labour costs are far higher in Switzerland than in India, Swiss companies find it on the whole more attractive to pass on their needs to companies based in India rather than set up IT joint ventures on Swiss soil. However, I have been noticing growing induction of Indian software professionals in a number of Swiss industries, both manufacturing and services.

8. Switzerland is very popular in India through the movies. How known is India in Switzerland? How many Indian tourists visit Switzerland? Is Switzerland still a favourite Indian tourist spot?

As mentioned earlier, India is fairly well known in Switzerland since the 19th century, when the Swiss company Volkart Brothers started trading in India. Leading Swiss companies such as ABB, Rieter, Nestle, Novartis etc. have been in India long before our liberalisation process began and have been benefiting greatly from our economic upturn. Indian cultural events are generally very popular in Switzerland and Indian cuisine has began to make its mark on Swiss palates.

9. Tell us something about Switzerland and its people.

Though small in size, Switzerland plays an extremely important role in the global economy, especially in financial services and in manufacturing of sophisticated machinery and precision instruments including clocks and watches. Swiss institutions of higher learning, such as those in Lausanne, Zurich and St. Gallen, have a world-wide reputation for their excellence and there is already considerable cooperation taking place between the scientific establishments of India and Switzerland. Since Switzerland enjoys an enviable record of political, economic and social stability, there is a good potential for Indian companies using Switzerland as a base for their European operations.