On the sidelines of India’s free trade agreement (FTA) with the European nation bloc expected to come into effect from October 1, 2025, Switzerland’s State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Helene Budliger Artieda, spoke at length about the challenges that her country faced in starting business in India.
Artieda also met India’s Commerce and Industry minister, Piyush Goyal, in Bern, Switzerland, where the Indian minister is on a two-day visit to meet businesses to attract investments into India.
India’s trade deal with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was signed by the two countries on March 10, 2024. The EFTA’s members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Switzerland is India’s largest trading partner in the bloc, followed by Norway.
Bureaucratic hurdles, said Artieda, are the biggest roadblocks for Swiss companies. A good regulatory framework and cutting down red tape in India would help attract Swiss investments, she added.
Under the EFTA-India pact, India has received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion in 15 years from the grouping, while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates, and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties.
Implementation of the trade agreement will help increase exports of Swiss watches and chocolates in India as Swiss companies will have the advantage of preferred access to markets in India for both watches and chocolates, said Artieda.
The Swiss minister also said there was a need to have the best framework conditions for the USD 100 billion investments, which she was confident would be achieved.
“That will be important that red tape will be cut as much as possible. Even in Switzerland, companies always complain that there is too much red tape. It will be very important that India creates a good framework for Swiss investments to come in,” she told reporters after meeting the Indian minister on June 10.
On the issue of the Swiss government suspending the most-favoured nation (MFN) status clause in the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and Switzerland, Artieda brushed it aside, saying there has been a misunderstanding.
“But it really has no connection whatsoever... I think it’s important to know that both India and Switzerland share a double taxation treaty and that treaty is valid and that means there will not be any issue,” she said.
In a statement in December 2024, the Swiss government announced the suspension of the MFN clause in the DTAA between India and Switzerland, potentially impacting Swiss investments in India and leading to higher taxes on Indian companies operating in the European nation.
India-EFTA two-way trade was USD 18.65 billion in 2022-23 (of this, USD 17.14 billion with Switzerland) compared to USD 27.23 billion in 2021-22. The trade deficit was USD 14.8 billion in the last fiscal year.
In 2024-25, India’s imports from EFTA bloc increased to USD 22.5 billion from USD 22 billion in 2023-24. Exports stood at USD 1.96 billion in the last fiscal year, up from USD 1.94 billion in 2023-24.
India has received about USD 10.83 billion in foreign direct investments (FDI) from Switzerland between April 2000 and March 2025. It is the 12th largest investor in India.
The FDI inflow was USD 931.88 million from Norway, USD 29.41 million from Iceland and USD 105.93 million from Liechtenstein during the period.
EFTA countries are not part of the European Union (EU). It is an inter-governmental organisation for the promotion and intensification of free trade. It was founded as an alternative for states that did not wish to join the European community.
India is negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement separately with the EU – the 27-nation bloc.
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