Switzerland’s arms exports fell by 12 per cent in 2010, with Germany, Saudi Arabia and Britain its biggest customers.
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Global sales of arms to 69 countries totalled SFr640.5 million ($681.8 million), the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said on Tuesday.
Sales were boosted by two big contracts: the partial delivery of air defence systems worth SFr132.6 million to Saudi Arabia and SFr128.7 million of vehicles to Germany and Belgium.
Against the background of uprisings in various Arab nations, Seco pointed out that the authorisation to sell arms to Saudi Arabia dated back to 2006, and in line with a 2009 Swiss cabinet decision, no new contracts had been granted to that country, Egypt or Pakistan, apart from ammunition and spare parts for equipment that had been sold before 2009.
Last year Switzerland sold SFr70,000 worth of arms and handguns to Egypt and SFr3.2 million of material to Bahrain.
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