Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin's trip is aimed at fostering and deepening bilateral economic and scientific relations with the Netherlands. The Netherlands and Switzerland are among the most innovative countries in the world. The new declaration of intent aims to expand cooperation between researchers, innovation and education stakeholders and funding organisations in both countries. The focus is on cooperation in life sciences and health, space travel, humanities and social sciences, key technologies such as quantum and artificial intelligence, and research infrastructures.
To implement the declaration of intent, a science counsellor has been appointed at the Swiss Embassy in The Hague to promote cooperation projects and expand exchange programmes in general as part of the Swissnex network.
The first meeting of the Swiss-Dutch Joint Committee on Education, Research and Innovation will take place after the signing.
Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin will also meet with Reinette Klever, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation. Their discussions will cover bilateral economic relations between Switzerland and the Netherlands, as well as current geo-economic challenges. In addition, Mr Parmelin will visit the port of Rotterdam, the economic and logistics hub at the mouth of the Rhine, where he will meet with representatives of Swiss companies in the Netherlands.
Close economic ties
The Netherlands and Switzerland maintain close bilateral economic relations: in 2023, the Netherlands ranked 15th among Switzerland's most important trading partners with a trade volume of CHF 12.3 billion. The most important sectors for bilateral trade are pharmaceuticals and chemicals, agriculture and machinery. In the same year, the volume of bilateral trade in services amounted to CHF 12.5 billion. In 2022, the Netherlands was the eighth most important destination for direct investment by Swiss companies abroad. Conversely, in the same year Switzerland was the third most important destination for direct investment by Dutch companies abroad.
Important partner in education, research and innovation
The Netherlands is an important partner for education, research and innovation stakeholders in Switzerland. Various instruments are in place to support cooperation, such as EUREKA, the intergovernmental initiative for cross-border cooperation projects in market-oriented research and development (R&D). As part of the EUREKA initiative, stakeholders from both countries have worked together on over 140 joint innovation projects over the past 30 years. The most recent bilateral EUREKA call for proposals was launched this year in the field of cell and gene therapy. As part of the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon Europe (2021-27), researchers from Switzerland and the Netherlands are currently collaborating on over 580 projects.
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