The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) is responsible for Switzerland's communication abroad. Its goals are to:

• disseminate knowledge about Switzerland abroad
• promote the visibility of Switzerland abroad
• present Switzerland's political concerns and positions
• establish and cultivate a foreign network

The Switzerland Brand is defined by the FDFA and forms the basis of Switzerland’s communications activities abroad in terms of content and visual presentation. It defines the messages that Switzerland wants to communicate abroad, and determines both the nature of this communication and the specifics of its visual presentation.

Swiss communication abroad focuses on a number of priority countries. Current priority countries are Switzerland’s neighbours, Germany, Austria, France and Italy, as well as Great Britain, the USA, China, and India. For 2009 and 2010, Latin America and the countries Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico have been selected as an ad hoc priority region.

Switzerland’s communication activities abroad are directed at present and future decision makers and opinion leaders from the fields of politics, business, science, education and culture, as well as at journalists, school classes, teachers, and students.

The FDFA bases its activities on the regular analyses and surveys it conducts on Switzerland’s image abroad.