Swiss diplomat is hopeful that the EFTA deal with India would be completed before the 2024 elections

 Swiss diplomat is hopeful that the EFTA deal with India would be completed before the 2024 elections

Heckner emphasized how crucial it is for the planned trade agreement to provide chances for investment and innovation.

Ralf Heckner, Switzerland's ambassador to India, has voiced optimism that the vital European Free Trade Association (EFTA) deal between the two nations would be finalized before to the general elections in 2024.

Heckner emphasized how crucial it is for the planned trade agreement to provide chances for investment and innovation.

"For more than 12 months, both perspectives have been talking very closely and seriously," he said to PTI. I have no doubt that the agreement will be finalized prior to the elections in 2024.

Recently, the ambassador visited the city to officially launch the Swiss-India Chamber of Commerce's Kolkata branch.

India is set to hold its parliamentary elections in the first part of 2024.

"We want to work with India more tactically. Will keep the innovation relationship. If India wants innovation, it has to collaborate with about 12 to 15 countries, as well as Switzerland is one of those countries for the world of investment as well as innovation," Heckner said.

A Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) is being negotiated by India and EFTA members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland with the goal of strengthening economic relations between the two areas.

The agreement's formal negotiations began in January 2008.

Members of EFTA do not belong to the European Union (EU).

Heckner said that the rise of visa applications for India and Switzerland in the next years would be impacted by the notable increase in visa application processing numbers, which reached a record 2 lakh in 2023 compared to the pre-Covid level of 1.6-1.7 lakh. There will be more trade and cultural exchanges between them.

EFTA-Indian goods trade is expected to reach over US$6.1 billion by 2022.