The Swiss mechanical and electrical engineering industries (MEM industries) can look back on a very positive year. New orders received, sales and exports all increased, in some cases robustly. Margins, too, have continued to recover. Having said that, growth momentum slowed considerably in the second half of the year. In the coming months, a sideways movement is thus the most likely scenario for business development. In the absence of growth stimuli, the need to conclude new free trade agreements is gaining in urgency. These create new market opportunities, especially for SMEs. The focus is on the potential agreements with the United States and Mercosur. The most pressing task, however, is to safeguard our privileged access to the EU single market. For this to happen, we need the institutional framework agreement.