Mr. Ambassadors,
Mr. James J. Schiro,
Mr. Martin Naville,
Board Members,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am delighted and honoured to be your guest today. Let me first thank you for your substantial contribution in promoting and strengthening our business relations with the United States. And let me also welcome 17 high school students from San Francisco and their professors.

As the second largest American Chamber of Commerce in Europe, you play a significant role in constantly establishing new bridges between our two countries. Let me further congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, on your leadership and you, Mr. Naville, on the great dynamism you bring to the Chamber. It is my intention to share with you some thoughts on Swiss policy responses to a fast changing global environment, stressing in this context the importance of Swiss-U.S. relations.

The USA and Switzerland look back at a strong, long-lasting relationship and friendship. In 1850, already, we signed a Treaty of Friendship and Trade. Other agreements followed, the latest being the Swiss-U.S. Cooperation Forum on Trade and Investment. I will come back to the Forum later on.

Known as "Sister Republics", we have much in common: deeply-rooted cultural links, similar political models and basic values such as democracy and freedom. More than 1.2 million US-citizens have Swiss roots. Among the most prominent Swiss emigrants, Albert Gallatin, born in 1761 in Geneva became Treasury Secretary under President Thomas Jefferson and Louis Chevrolet created the great Chevy!

And today our relations stand on two solid pillars: trade and investment. In 2006, Swiss exports to the USA grew by 17 percent, reaching more than 20 billion Swiss francs. The USA did even better, increasing exports to Switzerland by 32 percent, to reach almost 11 billion Swiss francs. Foreign direct investment figures are even more impressive: Switzerland is the 7th most important foreign direct investor in the USA with 122 billion US dollars. The USA is the most important foreign direct investor in Switzerland, with more than 60 billion Swiss francs; American firms account for more than a quarter (27%) of total foreign direct investment in Switzerland. We want to continue to build on this.

In addition to these bilateral relations, the Swiss government redefined the strategic orientation of its foreign economic policy in 2004. Our strategy can be associated with James Meade, winner of the 1977 Nobel prize in economics, who wrote: "... whatever hill one has chosen (...) one will always get higher by walking uphill."

To have such a strategy is important because the world is in a permanent state of change. In the time of the Cold War we lived in an era of ‘order' with a ‘first', ‘second' and ‘third' world.

Today these boundaries are fluid and individual countries in the Asian region now stand on the threshold to the ‘first world'.
Today, the EU is still ahead of the USA and China in terms of GDP; according to estimates by our State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the USA will overtake Europe by 2015, Malaysia, for example, will move from 24th to 22nd place and Switzerland will slip from 12th to 14th place.

We have to adapt to these changes, in economy as well as generally in politics.

A large section of the Swiss economy has anticipated these developments in the world and oriented itself abroad. The political establishment has followed in recent years and is increasingly committed to trade policy liberalisation. Today, Switzerland is in a position to benefit from globalisation and worldwide integration.

However, we must not block this process of international opening; we have to approach it head on and position ourselves well through location policy, by improving our competitiveness and our foreign economic strategy.

We have oriented the latter along the following criteria:

Access to markets: Through a strong body of multilateral rules, in the framework of the WTO for example, which guarantees discrimination-free market access for Swiss suppliers, and brings with it legal certainty and reliability. The conclusion of bilateral agreements also serves this purpose, be it with the EU or with other States.
Domestic competition: We want to keep the domestic economy fit by dismantling barriers to trade and strengthening import competition.
Promotion of developing countries: We have an interest in enabling developing countries to make the most of the opportunities offered by globalisation and reduce poverty. Development policy is more than merely giving alms to the poor and alleviating one's own conscience.

Based on this strategy, Switzerland is striving to achieve broad economic relations. In so doing, market access abroad must cover all economic sectors and be open to all firms.

We are implementing this foreign economic strategy at various levels:

Through bilateral agreements with the European Union; > new files include the electricity market and perhaps also the extension of the free movement to Romania and Bulgaria.
Through our efforts in the Doha Round; Switzerland is interested in real and wide-ranging results in several areas, industrial products (NAMA), services, rules, geographical indications (GIs) or environment.
Through bilateral free trade agreements with States outside the EU > FTA EFTA-Canada > Ongoing negotiations: with the Golf Cooperation Council, with Columbia and Peru, CH-Japan, > BRIC-Strategy.
Through domestic reform efforts. > Cassis de Dijon, liberalisation of electricity market.

The intensity and depth of our relations with the USA require continuous efforts to bring them to an even higher level. For the time being, we have chosen not to climb the hill of seeking a free trade agreement. Our platforms for dialogue, namely the Joint Economic Commission, the Memorandum of Understanding Establishing a Framework for Intensified Cooperation and the Swiss-US Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum provide a good basis to deal with economic and political issues of common interest. The Forum is the most significant recent institutional development in the Swiss-US economic relations. It follows a problem- and action-oriented approach.

During its first year, the Forum has dealt with several topics:

e-commerce,
the fight against pirated and counterfeited goods,
various issues linked to the pharmaceutical industry and
the regulation of telecommunications.

We have also discussed how Swiss business could be made aware of support programs and investment opportunities in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina. In addition, we have highlighted the significant interest of Swiss firms to simplify procedures to obtain working visas for staff temporarily employed in the USA. Now at the beginning of its second year, the Forum can look back on intensive cooperation. It mainly dedicates its work to non-tariff trade barriers, an area representing the major hurdle in trade today. It is important to note, that non-tariff barriers are also at the top of the U.S.-European Union agenda. Last April, a Framework for Advancing Transatlantic Integration between the European Union and the United States of America was established. Its objective is to create a barrier-free transatlantic internal market.

It should come as no surprise that some of the U.S.-European Union issues are also on the Swiss-U.S. agenda. In addition, we deal with them with the European Union. This implies that all progress under the newly-established U.S.-European Union Framework should also benefit other countries closely involved in the elimination of barriers across the Atlantic.

Be it through the US-European Union Framework, the Swiss-US Forum or other cooperation instruments, the objective is clear and much work lies ahead. I would like to encourage you to participate actively in the Forum by raising issues you have in connection with accessing the US market and thereby contributing to the establishment of a true transatlantic market. I am confident that substantial progress can be achieved.

In closing, there are two points I would like to make.
Firstly: I keep a very close eye on the US market. It's one that is extremely important to us.
Secondly: Within the Forum, we will go into various files at greater length and together with the Swiss business community bring further issues to the Forum.

I can understand the pressing wishes of business and certain politicians to see a renewed effort to seek an FTA with the USA. Let me first bring a mandate to the Federal Council for an FTA in agroalimentaria sector with the EU.

This will be a challenge for our farmers.

But I am convinced that in the shape of the Forum, we have created a platform,

through which Switzerland can voice its concerns,
through which we are heard and
through which agreements may be reached in specific areas.

Join me in assisting the Forum to really take off.

Join me in seeking to further consolidate and build on the relations between Switzerland and the USA.

Thank you for your support.

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Switzerland’s position in the global market place