The broad-based agreement was signed on 21 June 2011 in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It covers trade in goods (industrial and processed agricultural goods, as well as fish), trade in services, investment, intellectual property rights, government procurement, competition and trade and environment. Bilateral arrangements on basic agricultural products between the individual EFTA States and Hong Kong complement the instruments establishing the free trade area between the two sides, along with a side agreement on labour.
Bilateral merchandise trade between EFTA and Hong Kong amounted to over USD 11 billion in 2011. Top EFTA exports to Hong Kong include watches, precious stones and metals, electrical machinery, pharmaceutical products, optical, medical and surgical instruments as well as fish.
The agreement will further enhance trade and investment relations between the two sides by creating new opportunities for economic operators from both sides.
The agreement with Hong Kong is EFTA’s third treaty with an Asian partner, following those with Singapore and the Republic of Korea. EFTA's network of free trade agreements currently comprises 24 agreements covering 33 partners outside of the European Union.
For more information on the agreement, please visit the EFTA website on Hong Kong, China.
- EFTA’s full report of the fifth round with Chile 🇨🇱 is now available here ➡️ https://t.co/TJNYvibYAv — 12 months 14 hours ago
- EFTA🇮🇸 🇱🇮🇳🇴🇨🇭 parliamentarians visited #India🇮🇳 to give momentum to the trade agreement negotiations. They met wi… https://t.co/dwCKYu16YK — 12 months 16 hours ago
- Thank you for the interesting discussion! #EFTA Parliamentarians are in #Mumbai to meet with business stakeholders… https://t.co/NQUEwyXHbb — 12 months 3 days ago