A free trade agreement between Switzerland and Indonesia came into force in 2021 and market analysis shows that there is scope for a significant increase in business in both textiles and textile machinery between the two countries.

In response to this, Swiss Textile Machinery Association members presented their products and innovations to an invited audience of 200 delegates from Indonesian textile companies at a symposium in Jakarta in August.

The Swiss companies taking part were Benninger,  Bräcker, Loepfe, Maag, Jakob Müller, Rieter, Saurer, SERV, Stäubli, Uster and Zeta Datatec, in addition to Testex, the independent Swiss organisation which provides testing, certification, Oeko-Tex and other labels for the textile industry. 

Recent years have seen an acceleration in trade relations between Switzerland and Indonesia, which in 2008 was classed as one of eight priority countries for economic development cooperation by SECO, the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs, with a joint economic and trade commission established the following year.

Collaboration was heightened further in 2018 with a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) for Indonesia with Switzerland and the other EFTA countries. This more extensive form of free trade agreement was accepted after a popular referendum and ultimately came into force in November 2021.

Trading between the two countries is supported by SERV, the Swiss export risk insurance organisation. This insures export goods against political and commercial risks and facilitates credit.

The Swiss Textile Machinery Association is the representative body for Switzerland’s producers of textile equipment, systems, and services. Currently 43 companies are affiliated, offering solutions covering the entire textile value chain, from spinning to weaving, knitting, finishing, embroidery and quality control. The association is an industry sector of Swissmem, the national representative body for technology companies.

“Business in textiles and textile machinery is actually below the relative market shares for the sectors, so this stronger cooperation is probably overdue,” said Cornelia Buchwalder, secretary general of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association. “This was a very successful symposium.”

www.swisstextilemachinery.ch