The free-trade agreement that recently took effect between Japan and Switzerland is expected to help Tokyo ease any unfavorable impact from the lengthy time it has spent trying to conclude a similar accord with the European Union, Swiss Vice President Doris Leuthard said.
Japan is still in the early stages of negotiating an FTA with the EU, having launched a private-public joint study panel, and lags behind neighboring economies, particularly South Korea, which agreed in July to sign a trade liberalization accord with the 27-member union.
Switzerland, while not a member of the EU, is located at "the center of Europe" and can offer a key gateway to Japanese exports and investments destined for the greater European market, said Leuthard, who was visiting Tokyo earlier this month to celebrate the enforcement on Sept. 1 of the Japan-Swiss FTA — Tokyo's first such agreement with a European state.