Enduring, special economic ties

THE strong economic ties between Singapore and Switzerland may nowadays almost look natural; they are very impressive indeed. But it should not be forgotten that these broad and strong economic relations took some time to be built up.

Thanks to Swiss trading firms like Diethelm, Keller and Zuellig, companies that were active in Asia already during colonial times, trade networks had existed well before 1965. Zuellig for instance was running an animal feed mill in Singapore since the 50s and the family-run company even had its own pig and poultry farms here.

Due to the strong industrial base of Switzerland there certainly was a tremendous potential for both sides. It didn't take Swiss companies long to realise that Singapore would rapidly become an ideal outpost for production and services in the Asian region. Its central location, the business- and open-minded government and cheap labour were good reasons to invest in Singapore.