Ammann addresses old obstacles during India visit

The free trade deal between the two countries hinges on pharma patent protection Keystone

Swiss economics minister Johann Schneider-Ammann’s visit to India resulted in some progress on the issues of tax avoidance and the long-pending free trade agreement between the two countries. Innovation was also identified as a key area of cooperation.

This was the first visit by a Swiss cabinet minister to India since the current government led by prime minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.

The main purpose of the economy minister’s India trip from May15-17 was to promote Swiss innovation. As part of the Swiss embassy’s “Year of Swiss Innovation in India” programme for 2015-16, he inaugurated the Commission for Technology and Innovation’s (CTI) Market Entry CampsExternal link, an initiative to help Swiss startups enter the Indian market.

Trade deal

Ammann discussed the free trade agreement between India and EFTA countries (Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland) with India’s commerce and industries minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

“The overall impression is that the positions of the two countries are getting closer,” Erik Reumann, spokesperson for the economy ministry told French-language paper Tribune de Genève on Sunday.

The trade deal has been on the table since 2008 with intellectual property protection and data security a bone of contention, especially with regard to patents held by Swiss pharmaceutical companies.

Speaking to industry leaders at an event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce, Amman stressed that “without an assurance of a strong IP law, companies would not have the incentive to innovate and invest in India”.

Tax information

Some progress was also made on the long-standing negotiations over exchange of banking information. India has been looking into 782 names taken from a list of HSBC bank clients given to foreign authorities by former bank employee, Hervé Falciani, who worked at the bank’s Geneva branch. Despite pressure from India, Switzerland had so far refused to compromise on providing banking information based on stolen bank data.

Strengthening our partnership with India: meeting with Finance minister Arun Jaitley pic.twitter.com/uLW1J7q9QKExternal link

— J N Schneider-Ammann (@_BR_JSA) May 15, 2015External link

However, following a meeting with Ammann, Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley told reporters that Switzerland is prepared to consider requests in cases where account holders have admitted to wrongdoing, according to the Indian newspaper The Economic Times who quoted Jaitley.

“A large number of account holders have made admissions before the Government of India,” said Jaitley. “As to whether admissions itself is an evidence on the basis of which they would act, they said indeed they would.”

Just ahead of Ammann’s visit the Swiss cabinet stated that it “will propose a clarification of the legal situation to Parliament” with regard to stolen data.