For the first time since the general election in July, UK and Swiss negotiators have met to restart negotiations on an upgraded trade agreement which began in May 2023.
Business and Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said:“Trade between our two nations has quadrupled in the last 20 years, with services playing a huge role in that success. I’m looking forward to starting negotiations on an updated and modern trade deal, which will help drive economic growth and boost jobs and prosperity across the UK.”
Switzerland is the UK’s 10th largest trading partner and seventh largest export market, with total trade between the two countries worth £51 billion in 2023. As of 2022, the stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) from Switzerland into the UK totalled £61.9 billion.
Despite the existing trade agreement between the UK and Switzerland focusing mostly on goods, they are both leading service-based economies, with services trade accounting for nearly £30 billion of trade between the two.
According to Mr Reynolds, a revised deal could support jobs in all UK nations and regions, including 120,000 services jobs directly linked to trade with Switzerland, and could also provide much needed long-term certainty on travel arrangements for UK firms.
In 2020, Scotland and the North West were each estimated to have exported more than £700 million of services to Switzerland, 30% of them in financial and insurance services.
