India-Switzerland expected to sign MoU on IPR

New Delhi, Aug 5: India and Switzerland are expected to sign an MoU on the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) during the forthcoming visit of Swiss Federal Counsellor and Minister of Economic Affairs Doris Leuthard here.

Official sources said the issue will be discussed during Ms Leuthard's meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and the deliberations are also expected on the framework conditions for Swiss business in India.

Indo-Swiss trade has been steadily increasing over the past few years. The bilateral trade increased by about 30 per cent during 2006-07 over that of the previous year.

India mainly exports gems and jewellery, drugs, pharmaceuticals, RMG cotton, machinery and instruments to Switzerland, while the imports consists of gold, machinery and medical products.

Switzerland ranks 16th with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) approvals during 1991 to December 2006 crossing more than 1.11 billion dollar. It also ranks 10th in the cumulative FDI inflow. The top sectors attracting FDI from Switzarland are fuels, telecommunications, chemicals and metallurgical industries.

UNI