President Park Geun-hye held a summit with her Swiss counterpart, President of the Swiss Confederation Johann Schneider-Ammann, at Cheong Wa Dae on July 13.

The leaders acknowledged the significance of the two leaders’ trips to each other's countries, visits that were made for the first time since the two countries established diplomatic ties some 50 years ago. President Park visited Switzerland in January 2014.

During their talks, the two sides voiced the need to further encourage this momentum that has been accelerating between high-ranking representatives in the two countries. They vowed to work together to pursue open, free trade for the sustainable development of the world economy.

President Park said that the rise of protectionism that was triggered globally by Britain’s divorce from the European Union was not desirable for the revitalization or sustainable growth of the global economy. She called on her Swiss counterpart to work together for open, free trade. In response, President Schneider-Ammann said that their two countries should join forces to pursue open markets and to stem the expansion of protectionism.

The two leaders emphasized the need to upgrade the decade-long free trade pact between Korea and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), a free-trade block consisting of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. They agreed to explore ways to upgrade the FTA, in due consideration of the sensitivity of agricultural products and Korea’s trade deficit.

The Swiss leader called Korea “the most innovative nation in the world,” saying that his country was using the successful story of Korea's rapid rise up the tech ladder as a benchmark. He said that he hopes that his country would model after Korea and that the two countries would compete and cooperate with each other across education, innovation, the fourth industrial revolution and digitalization.



President Park agreed that the two nations would become good partners by further cooperating on IT, biotech, healthcare and, in particular, on industries involved with the fourth industrial innovation and digitalization that the Swiss leader had mentioned. She said that such bilateral cooperation should be based on the current cooperative foundation of innovation programs that have been designed for joint research between universities, businesses and research institutes.

The two heads of state noted the importance of creating more jobs and providing a better future for youth, and they agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation on vocational education. President Park suggested that the two governments should increase the number of programs being run for young students at hotels and other tourist facilities, and expand such educational programs to cover the manufacturing industry.

President Park expressed her gratitude for the Swiss government’s faithful implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea, mentioning that Switzerland had applied comprehensive financial sanctions against the North in May. She called on the Swiss government to keep joining the efforts being made by the international community to stop the North from pursuing provocations and nuclear weapons programs.

Finally, President Park recognized that Switzerland has contributed to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula by serving as a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) over the past six decades. The Swiss president vowed that his government would keep working for peace and security on the peninsula, as well as remain as a reliable partner for Seoul.



By Wi Tack-whan, Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writers
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae
whan23@korea.kr