Swiss Federal Councillor for Economic Affairs, H.E. Mr. Johann N. Schneider-Amman paid an official visit to India from 15-17 May 2015.  He was accompanied by a private delegation consisting of Swiss business representatives with interests in India as well as members of Cantonal Governments and the National Council.  During his meeting, he met his counterpart, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and discussed bilateral economic relations, status of negotiations on the free trade agreement between EFTA and India and also global economic developments.  Mr. Schneider-Ammann also met Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley and discussed a number of issues relating to economic and financial cooperation.  He also met Mr. Rajiv Pratap Reddy, Minister for Skill Development and Enterprises and discussed topics relating to vocational education and training.

Mr. Schneider-Ammann also visited Bangalore and launched the CTI Market Entry Camps, an initiative of the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) run by Swissnex India, aimed at encouraging Swiss starts-up to enter the Indian market.  He also visited Bangalore Institute of Management Studies and the local branch of Swiss business.