The Minister of Industry, Trade and Services, Marcos Pereira, met today in Brasilia with President of the Swiss Confederation, Johann Schneider-Ammann, and the Swiss ambassador in Brazil, André Regli, to discuss issues on the bilateral agenda.

During the meeting, Marcos Pereira and Swiss representatives said they are interested in a deepening of relations between Mercosur and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) free trade area formed by Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. "The MDIC is firmly engaged in advancing the negotiation of the Mercosur-EFTA agreement," said Mark Pereira. Dialogue Exploration for free trade agreement negotiations between the blocks was launched in 2015 and is in its final stage.

Another topic on the agenda was the relationship of the two countries to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The minister and the Swiss representatives expressed support for the multilateral trading system and agreed that it is important to put into practice the results of the Ministerial Conference in Bali (2013) and Nairobi (2015). In Bali, the Trade Facilitation WTO Agreement was signed, in order to simplify and streamline customs procedures (import and export), to encourage world trade.

In Brazil, one of facilitation actions already implemented is the only Foreign Trade Portal, a single window between private and public sector that are not necessary concomitant procedures in different consenting agencies. In Nairobi, the countries pledged to eliminate export subsidies on agricultural goods. The Brazil and Swiss authorities agreed on the need to coordinate positions and in this regard, the minister Marcos Pereira was invited to participate in the next edition of the World Economic Forum being held in Davos in January 2017. The minister said extend the invitation also to the incumbent president, Michel Temer.

Marcos Pereira also said that before his commitment to the dialogue between public and private sectors in the federal government, aims to encourage investment of Swiss companies in Brazil. The minister said he will work with the Executive Secretariat of Investments Partnership Program (IPP), linked to the Presidency, to foster economic growth and job creation.

trade

In 2015 the trade (the sum of imports and exports) between Brazil and Switzerland totaled US $ 4.2 billion. Brazil exported US $ 1.9 billion and imported US $ 2.3 billion, resulting in US $ 436 million deficit. We sell to Switzerland, mainly oil export platforms and import drugs. Exports to Switzerland represent 1% of the list of Brazilian exports and 1.3% of our imports.