Pakistan and Switzerland are facing bilateral trade deficit, despite enormous trade potential between Pakistan and Switzerland. Consul General of Switzerland Emil Wyss during his visit to Pakistan Chemical & Dyes Merchants Association encouraged the Pakistani business community to augment the exports of textile and agriculture products to Switzerland.

He said that the economic relations between Pakistan and Switzerland are deep-rooted and both countries enjoyed a better volume in the recent past. In fact, many Swiss companies are doing business in Pakistan independently and as joint venture.

Emil Wyss highly appreciated the role of Swiss-Pak Council for initiating skill development programmes to smarten up the Pak human resource for better professional services in order to augment the exports.

Consul General also disclosed that Switzerland has recently joined Schengen Treaty and now Pakistanis having Schengen visa can also visit Switzerland, however, Swiss Embassy and Consulate can provide visa in one month period after necessary processing.

However, dialogue between the two countries business communities are much needed to further explore the trade potential. Swiss Consul General unveil that Switzerland ranks Pakistan as priority country for trade and the Top Ten Foreign Investors in Pakistan are Swiss Companies, namely, ABB, Nestle, Clariant, Sulzer etc.

Earlier, Nadeem Aftab, Vice Chairman PCDMA expressed respect to Swiss Confederation and drew the attention of Consul General of Switzerland towards exports potential in textiles, chemical products and handicrafts. He recommended for exchange of delegations and participation of Pakistani Businessmen in international trade fairs of Switzerland.

He urged the Consul General to motivate other leading Swiss companies to invest in the energy sector in order to accelerate the bilateral commercial and industrial activities.