The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Republic of Indonesia are reporting that four bilateral agreements were signed between Indonesia and Switzerland on the side-lines of the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos.
The agreements were the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) investment cooperation; the Agreement between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) and EconomieSuisse; the Agreement between KADIN Indonesia and Innosuisse; and the Agreement on the establishment of an Indonesia Trading House (ITH) between KADIN Indonesia and Pasar Indonesia Versand, Switzerland.
The Swiss government hosted three agreements, namely BIT, KADIN and EconomieSuisse, and the KADIN and Innosuisse agreement which was carried out at the House of Switzerland. From the Indonesian government side, the signing of the BIT was carried out by the Minister of Investment/ Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Bahlil Lahadia, and witnessed by Guy Parmelan, the Swiss Minister of Economy, Education and Research.
The agreements between KADIN and Innosuisse and between KADIN and EconomieSuisse were witnessed directly by the Indonesian Minister of Trade and the Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The agreement to establish the Indonesia Trading House or ITH was officially signed at the Indonesia Pavilion by the chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Indonesian Market Owner Versand, Switzerland, and witnessed by the Indonesian Minister of Trade, Muhammad Lutfi.
Ambassador Muliaman Hadad, who was present at the ceremony, said the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Switzerland is getting stronger day by day, especially in the trade sector. “Trade in the first quarter of 2022, Indonesia’s trade balance surplus amounted to USD 1.16-billion,” the Ambassador said.
ITH is a concrete form of utilizing the implementation of Indonesia’s EFTA CEPA which took effect late last year. It is hoped that ITH will encourage an increase in Indonesia’s trade abroad. Switzerland can be a hub for the Indonesian product market to be exported to other countries. The owner of the Indonesian Versand Market, namely Catharina Oehler, is one of the Indonesian diaspora in Switzerland who has been selling Indonesian products since 1999.
Since Indonesia’s EFTA CEPA took effect, Switzerland and Liechtenstein removed 7,042 Tariff Posts (81.74%) or 99.65% of the value of Swiss commodity imports from Indonesia. In Q1/ 2022 almost all of Indonesia’s main commodities to Switzerland experienced an increase compared to the Q1/ 2021.
The latest data from the Swiss Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS), suggests the value of Indonesia’s commodity exports to Switzerland reached USD 1.26 billion in Q1/ 2022, an increase of 998.0% compared to the value of Indonesia’s exports to Switzerland in the Q1/ 2021 (USD 115.53 million).
Data from the Ministry of Investment/ BKPM shows that in Q1/ 2022, Switzerland ranked 5th in Europe and 20th of all countries investing in Indonesia. The number of projects has reached 152 with a value of USD 15.7 million.
Source: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Republic of Indonesia
