Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

The risk to bees through pesticides and the ensuing effects on the world’s food crops have been the source of much debate. But do Swiss measures to support the domestic honeybee disadvantage the equally important wild bee? It is not easy to identify the 615 different species of wild bees found in Switzerland. Max Huber After some years in the regional print and broadcast media in French Switzerland, in 2000 I joined Radio Swiss International, which then became...

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis at the opening of the Swiss embassy in Minsk, Belarus, in February 2020. Keystone / Tatyana Zenkovich After rejecting the framework agreement with the European Union last month, Switzerland must now choose the model for interacting with the bloc’s internal market, says the EU ambassador to Switzerland. In an interviewExternal link with Le Temps newspaper on Friday, Petros Mavromichalis warned that the status quo was not an option...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]On 23 June 2021, Switzerland’s government announced that it was loosening a wide range of Covid-19 restrictions from Saturday. From Saturday, 26 June 2021 rules on nightclubs, large events, remote working, education and restaurants will be loosened. In addition, it will become easier for travelers to enter Switzerland.

[unable to retrieve full-text content]This week, 880 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in Switzerland, down 44% from the week before (1,576). The daily number of cases on a 7-day rolling average is now 126. During the week, 22 people were reported being admitted to hospital in Switzerland with Covid-19.

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The creation of a global repository in Switzerland to store, analyse and quickly share viruses and pathogens among laboratories around the world will better prepare us for the next pandemic, says a biologist working at the future BioHub site.

“Customs”: a border crossing at Geneva. Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi The number of cross-border workers plying their trade in Switzerland has more than doubled since the mid-1990s. The rising trend continues, increasing by over 4% between 2019 and 2020. At the end of 2020, some 343,000 cross-border workers were employed in Switzerland, up from 329,000 in December 2019, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) said on Thursday. This amounts to 6.7% of the active...

The use of debit cards continues to increase but cash remains the most popular payment method in Switzerland. Many respondents say they have adapted their payment behaviour as a result of the pandemic and plan to make increased use of card payments in the future. © Keystone/Gaetan Bally A survey by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) found that 97% of respondents keep cash in their wallets or at home to cover day-to-day expenses, while 92% own a debit card and 78% hold a...

The Swiss consumed almost 11% less energy last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and warmer weather, according to the Federal Office of Energy. Electricity pylons near Schaenis in canton St Gallen. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally In total, Swiss residents used up 747,400 terajoules (TJ) of energy in 2020 – a fall of 10.6% compared to 2019 – the office said in a statementExternal link on Monday. The two Covid-related lockdowns in spring and autumn, as well as warm weather,...

The proposed 15% minimum corporate tax rate is an opportunity for Switzerland to unite its tax code for the better, says an organization representing Swiss cities. Cities like Zurich rely on company tax revenues to provide services and infrastructure. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally City finance directors have criticized cantons for trying to plug expected tax gaps unilaterally, rather than find a common approach nationwide. The United States is currently leading efforts...

Switzerland is well prepared to take on the Delta variant, said Christoph Berger, head of Switzerland’s federal vaccination commission. Based on what we currently know, there is no need to be concerned, he said, reported RTS. © Rodrigo Fernández | Dreamstime.com While it’s true that the variant is more contagious, nearly 90% of those vaccinated with two doses of mRNA vaccine are protected against this variant, Berger told the NZZ am Sonntag on 20 June 2021....