On 16 September 2025, Switzerland and 13 other countries launched the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership (short: FIT Partnership or FITP). The FIT Partnership is a new plurilateral initiative that brings together small and medium-sized economies with a strong commitment to open and rules-based global trade. The initiative enables its members to increase their influence and strengthen the rules-based trading system. Furthermore, FITP develops concrete solutions to the challenges facing global trade.
Participating states and interested groups
Apart from Switzerland, the participating states include Brunei, Chile, Costa Rica, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Rwanda, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay. Switzerland, together with New Zealand, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (co-convenors), played a key role in developing this initiative, and aims to continue playing a leading role within the FIT Partnership. The FIT Partnership is open to other interested countries that share its principles, and it also plans to involve the private sector.
What are the objectives of the FIT Partnership?
The Ministerial Declaration outlines the shared values and objectives of the FIT Partnership in detail. It forms the basis for further cooperation between the members. The objectives of FITP are in line with the foreign trade strategy defined by the Federal Council, according to which Switzerland contributes to the multilateral, rules-based trading system through its foreign trade policy and represents its interests within the framework of plurilateral international economic law instruments and topic-specific alliances with like-minded countries.
The following FITP objectives are particularly relevant for Switzerland:
- Gaining more influence for trade policy issues in small and medium-sized countries with an international focus;
- Launch thematic initiatives to address emerging trade challenges;
- Creating a platform for exchange between open economies to discuss trade and investment issues informally, in a solution-oriented manner and outside existing structures;
- Building new alliances to jointly address trade policy uncertainty;
- Promoting exchange with private stakeholders and involving them more closely in finding solutions.
Thematic workstreams: How does the FIT Partnership work?
FITP promotes non-binding initiatives on specific topics that align with its objectives. The initial focus is on four areas of work: 1. Supply chain resilience; 2. Investment facilitation; 3. Non-tariff barriers/ trade facilitation; 4. Trade technology. The first FITP initiative is a declaration on "Best Practices in Response to Major Supply Chain Disruptions", with Switzerland taking the lead. Members can participate in individual initiatives, but there is no obligation to do so. Thanks to the agile nature of FITP, members can decide which initiatives to participate in according to their interests and capacities.
Unique selling points: What added value does the FIT Partnership offer Switzerland?
- FITP offers Switzerland another platform for strengthening and diversifying its trade relations.
- FITP is not a coalition within the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but its activities strengthen the WTO and the rules-based trading system from the outside..
- FITP aims to find concrete solutions to current problems in the areas of trade and investment, also involving the private sector.
