Prosperity – greater commitment to economic interests Boosting the economy by means of foreign policy serves to increase prosperity in Switzerland. In this way, foreign policy contributes to the country’s internal cohesion and helps safeguard its system of social welfare. Supporting Swiss business abroad thus takes on even more importance. Securing market access for Swiss companies and maintaining fair competition rules will become more difficult: companies should be able to trade and invest without discrimination. Alongside market access, this also requires legal certainty when making long-term investments and the protection of intellectual property. A rules-based international order is essential for Switzerland to prosper. Priority must go to a World Trade Organization with the capacity for effective action, and further rounds of multilateral trade liberalisation. However, while progress here remains blocked, the focus will be placed on plurilateral and bilateral trade agreements. Free trade policy is crucial to Switzerland as an exporter. Market access boosts the country’s competitiveness and the attainment of full employment. Its key markets are: the EU, the United States, China and – if Brexit happens – the United Kingdom. However, for Switzerland and its prosperity, maintaining and expanding the global scale of its foreign trade policy is key. The most commonly named growth markets for Switzerland today include Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey. The Fourth Industrial Revolution will require businesses, the state and its citizens to adapt to largescale change with wide-ranging consequences. Foreign policy will have to respond via new forms of governance that enable this change to be accompanied by suitable regulation. The prosperity of other countries contributes significantly to Switzerland’s prosperity – yet another reason why it is in Switzerland’s interest to promote development in other countries. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a meaningful framework for its efforts in this area. Enabling global economic growth that produces fewer emissions is another important task facing Swiss foreign policy. Independence: freedom of action and new opportunities of neutrality Independence means freedom of action. The primary consideration here is to protect people against the arbitrary use of power. International agreements are a suitable instrument for achieving this. Rather than weakening Switzerland’s sovereignty, rules-based treaties actually prevent decisions being made solely according to ‘might makes right’. But this does not mean that Switzerland should enter into as many of these agreements as possible. The important point is that the agreements it does conclude should be in the national interest and enjoy domestic support. Pursuing its own foreign policy remains Switzerland’s best guarantee of independence. It Switzerland’s most important trading partners in 2018inin 2018 CHF million Switzerland's most important trading partners in CHF million EU 305,815 Germany 103,817 USA 60,943 China 44,023 France 39,453 Italy 37,278 UK 36,967 *Hong Kong 19,503 India 19,290 Austria 15,796 UAE 15,009 0 25,000 * Special Administrative Region 15 2028 Foreign Policy Vision 50,000 75,000 100,000 125,000 150,000 175,000 200,000 225,000 250,000 275,000 300,000 325,000 350,000 Source: Federal Customs Administration (figures: Exports + imports, without services)