In China
Switzerland is represented in China by the
Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing which reports to FDFA.
Consular affairs are dealt with by the Consulates General of Switzerland in
Shanghai,
Gangzhou
and
Hong Kong which report to the Embassy.
OSEC operates in China with the Swiss Business Hub China (SBH).
SBH has offices in Beijing , Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The Swiss trade promotion in China is also supported by the Swiss Center Shanghai (SCS) and the Sino Swiss Partnership Fund (SSPF).
The Swiss Center Shanghai (SCS), of which Switzerland is a shareholder, offers small offices and instant workshops with experts and interim managers for facilitating the market entry of Swiss companies in China.
The Sino Swiss Partnership Fund (SSPF) is a project financing facility jointly set up by the Swiss and the Chinese governments for Sino-Swiss joint ventures. It assists small and medium sized enterprises from Switzerland to invest in China.
In General
Numerous Swiss government bodies, as well as State-controlled and private organizations, including
SwissCham, are involved in the promotion and support of Swiss exports and
outbound investments.
On the governmental level, the implementation of
the external trade policy is shared between the Federal Department (or ministry)
of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), and the State Secretariat to the Economy (seco). seco (in lower
case) is subordinated to the Federal Department (or ministry) of the Economic
Affairs (FDEA). FDFA focuses on political aspects, whereas seco puts
an emphasis on economic issues.
FDFA and seco also rely on two semi-
private, State-controlled organizations, OSEC and SOFI.
Also known as Business Network Switzerland,
the Swiss Office of Commercial Expansion (OSEC) is a non-profit organization mandated by the Swiss
government to support Swiss companies abroad. It coordinates a network of 13
representative offices or " hubs" worldwide which
deliver basic information, consulting and marketing services. OSEC is
subordinated to seco. However, the eleven hubs hosted by an embassy or consulate
are subordinated to FDFA.
The Swiss Organization for Facilitating
Investments (SOFI) was created
by seco to facilitate investments in countries with developing and transition
economies. The Swiss government operates SOFI in collaboration with KPMG.
The implementation of the external trade policy is shared between EDA, seco
and OSEC. seco is primarily responsible to the Federal Council, but
operationally it is OSEC which is in charge, under the monitoring of seco. EDA,
through its embassies and consulates, supports OSEC 's representations or
"hubs" abroad.
The assessment, the coordination, the
negotiation of treaties and the information related to the Swiss policy towards
the European Union (EU) has been entrusted to a special Bureau,
the Integration Bureau
FDFA/FDEA, run jointly by FDFA and FDEA.
Private organizations
mainly include the bilateral Swiss chambers of commerce,
including SwissCham China. There are several other
organizations involved to various degrees in the Swiss policy of external trade,
all of which cannot be listed here.
Among the most important, it is
worth mentioning the federation of the Swiss chambers of commerce representing
specific fields of industry and services in Switzerland, Chambers of Commerce
& Industry of Switzerland (CCIS), as well as economiesuisse, an influential lobbying
organization representing the Swiss economy and regularly active on the Swiss
external trade scene. economiesuisse is the largest umbrella organization
representing the Swiss economy. Its members include trade and industry
associations, cantonal chambers of commerce and individual companies.
The activity and the interaction among these numerous actors
has been, upon request of the Parliament, recently assessed and criticized by
the Federal Audit Office in a report on the federal policy of external trade.
It is also worth mentioning the State Guarantee Against Investment Risks
(GRI) is operated by the
Swiss Federation of Machine-Tool Industry (Swissmem) whereas
the Guarantee Against Export Risks (formerly GRE) is run as from 2006 by the new
Swiss Insurance Against Export Risks (ASRE). ASRE was also entrusted to Swissmem until ASRE's take over.
The development and co- operation policy of Switzerland has been
entrusted to both the Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (DDC) and seco's Economic Cooperation to
Development. In 2003, DDC 's budget was almost fivefold seco's.
The
Government redefines regularly its external economic policy in a yearly report
on Switzerland's
external policy which constitutes guidelines for improving access by Swiss
companies to foreign markets.
In its 2004 Report, the Government
revealed a new strategy and described the objectives of the Swiss external
economic policy. It outlined globalization and the increasing importance of
services, finance and intellectual property, as well as the ever closer inter-
dependence between the internal and external markets. Switzerland 's involvement
in multilateral organizations, as well as its support to developing and under-
developed countries, were reaffirmed, as they contribute to a stable external
economic development.
The new Federal Act on Exports
Promotion which entered into force in 2001 enables the government to sub-
contract the promotion of Swiss external trade and was designed to support that
strategy. Its implementation was assessed in the report of
the Federal Auditor noted above.
In 2007 the Government published
its latest report on Switzerland's foreign
trade promotion policy for 2008-2011.