As the market of over 500 million consumers across 28 countries, Europe remains as the hotspots of foreign investments and a region that is full of business opportunities. It is the second largest economy in the world according to its purchasing power parity (PPP). The economy of the 19-country-strong euro area has expanded at a moderate pace during the first three-quarters of 2016. In the first three months of 2015, quarterly growth reached as high as a (still modest) 0.8%; that rate slackened to 0.5% in the first quarter of 2016 and sits at 0.4% over the past year.

Despite the financial crisis in the past, Europe has gained its momentum to reignite its growth engine. In fact, the United States and the European Union make up half of the world’s economic output and nearly one trillion dollars in global goods and services trade. Europe offers businesses of all sizes unparalleled opportunities, both as an export market and a base from which to expand sales to the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

We could see that Europe is in prime position when it comes to global trade. The openness of the region’s trade regime depicts that the EU is the biggest player on the global trading scene and remains a good region to do business with.

The EU has achieved a strong position by acting together with one voice on the global stage, rather than with 28 separate trade strategies. Ranked first as the top ten most competitive countries of Europe, Switzerland is also the top performer [in economy] globally.