New Zealand and Switzerland have agreed to establish a Trade and Investment Dialogue aimed at strengthening economic ties and exploring greater cooperation on trade, investment, e-commerce, economic security and sustainability.
The announcement followed a meeting in Auckland between Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay and Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs Helene Budliger Artieda on the sidelines of the Future of Investment and Trade (FIT) Partnership Ministerial Meeting.
McClay said the dialogue would help expand bilateral economic cooperation and increase collaboration through international organisations including the World Trade Organization and the OECD, as countries seek to strengthen trade links amid global economic uncertainty.
Trade between New Zealand and Switzerland totalled NZ$1.88 billion in the year to December 2025. New Zealand exported NZ$429 million worth of goods and services, including travel services, meat, edible offal, and hides and skins, while imports from Switzerland reached NZ$1.45 billion, led by transportation services, pharmaceuticals, clocks and watches, insurance services, and intellectual property-related payments.
Officials from both countries are scheduled to hold the first Trade and Investment Dialogue meeting in September.
The best thing that could come from this is if the New Zealand government absorbs lessons from the Swiss system of governance and decision making and changes their fake democracy uni-party system for a direct democracy system based on the Swiss model.
The fake democracy uni-party model has proven it is not fit for purpose. Party politics is the problem, not the solution.