New start in Mumbai for General Consulate of Switzerland

On the occasion of the launch of the remodeled General Consulate of Switzerland in Mumbai.

The Consulate General of Switzerland in Mumbai was the leading visa-issuing office within the Swiss network abroad, providing up to 80,000 visas per year. In February 2016, the visa section in Mumbai was closed and visa processing within India was centralised at the Embassy in New Delhi.

Subsequently, the Consulate General was reorganised internally with allocation of additional resources to the culture and public diplomacy department within the new scope of activities. The renovation of the offices began simultaneously under the mandate of Federal Department of Buildings and Logistics (BBL). The reconstruction process that lasted almost one year was led by Swiss architects from MACH GmbH Zürich in cooperation with ‘Opolis’, the Indian partner. All the core construction and technical components as well as the furniture were brought in from Switzerland.

After completion of the remodeling, the Swiss Business Hub and Switzerland Tourism have come under the single roof of the Consulate General. A modern platform has thus been created to represent key Swiss interests in diplomacy, trade and investment and tourism, along with the continuation of providing consular services to Swiss citizens. The new and integrated setup is considered as a milestone for Switzerland’s presence in India’s largest city and financial capital.

The grand opening of the new state-of-the-art offices takes place on May 26, 2017, in the presence of Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud, Director, Directorate of Resources, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs; Dr Andreas Baum, Ambassador of Switzerland to India; Daniel Küng, CEO of Switzerland Global Enterprise; Urs Eberhard, Executive Vice President, Head of Markets, Switzerland Tourism; Jodok Brunner, BBL; the architects and colleagues from the official Swiss network in India.

The Embassy of Switzerland, along with the other official Swiss representations in India, is presenting a new event series: The biennial initiative 70 Years of Swiss-Indian Friendship: Connecting Minds - Inspiring the Future (SIF70) commemorates the anniversary of the Swiss-Indian Treaty of Friendship, which was signed in New Delhi on August 14, 1948.

With this initiative, the Swiss diplomatic network in India is connecting Swiss and Indian minds that are actively shaping the future of both countries. The focus lies on creating opportunities for innovation in business, research and technology, but also in the fields of governance, art or social inclusion. Events and activities will take place in various cities across India to highlight this important landmark until the end of 2018. For more information on the ongoing event series, please visit: www.eda.admin.ch/india

The launch of the remodeled Consulate General of Switzerland in Mumbai on May 26, is part of the event series. The Consulate General now also includes the Swiss Business Hub India and Switzerland Tourism in its offices at Nariman Point. This reinforces the official Swiss presence in Mumbai. This new Swiss platform comes with improved and innovative ways of collaboration and even better services.

Swiss-Indian cooperation occurs in many fields. Enclosed are statements of its stakeholders: