Switzerland is working for more free trade

Switzerland is supporting free trade and globalization as the means to make the Swiss economy more prosperous and intends to extend the number of such agreements in the near future, Joerg Gasser, Switzerland's State Secretary for International Financial Matters at the Federal Department of Finance (FDF), told media on Friday on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
"Free trade is always good. We are a very small but extremely well-connected economy. We are open and we need trade and globalization in order to make our economy prosper. From that point of view we are against protectionism," Gasser said.

Switzerland is a party to tens of free trade agreements, while the negotiations between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), of which Switzerland is a member, with Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union are currently on hold.

"We have a policy of trying to extend our network of free trade agreements and we will follow this policy also in the near future," Gasser said.
The Alpine country would like  to improve bilateral relations with Russia in the fields of economy, technology and science, Joerg Gasser added.

The 2016 trade between Russia and Switzerland shows that the relations between the two countries are progressing nicely.

The company that has been countering the Swiss trend for greater focus on Russia is Glencore. In 2015–2016, it divested 40% of its agricultural business despite enjoying the position of the second largest exporter of Russian grains in 2014 and 2015. However, the move was due to Glencore’s business issues rather than the situation in Russia.