Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

The Swiss government has started to cautiously lift several Covid restrictions put in place in mid-January to reduce infection levels. Shops, museums and sports facilities re-opened from March 1 but restaurants and bars remain closed. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott After a weak start to the year, Switzerland’s economy should recover rapidly from a heavy coronavirus-driven slump to grow by 3% in 2021, the government said on Thursday. Gross domestic product will fall...

The Swiss narrowly voted in favour of a free trade deal with Indonesia on Sunday. Will future agreements also have to win popular support? It’s rare that the people get to decide the fate of a free trade deal – it’s only happened twice in the last half century in Switzerland. The vote was less about trade and more about palm oil, which has become synonymous with deforestation and the decimation of wildlife like the Orangutan. I asked my colleague Anand...

Manufacturing constraints, not logistics, are holding up distribution of vaccines. Keystone / Zoltan Mathe More than half of adults in rich countries will still be waiting to receive a first dose of coronavirus vaccine in 15 months’ time, the head of a logistics group distributing jabs has warned. Detlef Trefzger, chief executive of Kuehne+Nagel, one of the world’s largest haulage companies, said: “This already is fast. This sounds shocking for some people, but we...

The government wants to retain control of weapons exports in connection with peace-keeping missions. © Keystone / Christian Beutler The Swiss government has rejected calls to allow voters and cantons to set conditions for weapons exports. A people’s initiative collected enough signatures in 2019 to force a nationwide vote on the issue. It proposes enshrining rules for war materiel exports in the constitution, which would take this responsibility away from the...

© Tetiana Soares | Dreamstime.com A recent parliamentary vote on whether to issue a formal request to the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, to reopen restaurants on 22 March 2021, found a majority of 97 to 90, according to Le Matin. The main parties supporting the demand were the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) and the PLR (FDP). The Socialist and Green parties were against it. The formal demand to the Federal Council stipulates: Increased testing and...

Magdalena Martullo-Blocher, CEO and vice-chair of Ems Chemie, is one of five leaders of top Swiss firms. © Keystone / Walter Bieri The proportion of women in Swiss company boardrooms and management ranks continues to rise, according to an annual survey of the largest employers in both private and public sectors. The share of management positions held by women increased from 10% in 2019 to 13% last year, says the latest edition of the Schilling ReportExternal link...

Zurich/Basel, 5 March 2021 – The Annual Report 2020 provides comprehensive and detailed information on the firm, its strategy, business, governance and compensation, financial performance and risk, treasury and capital management, as well as on the regulatory and operating environment for the 2020 financial year. It presents the fully audited results for the year ending 31 December 2020. UBS’s net profit attributable to shareholders for 2020 was USD 6,557 million...

The Japanese robot “Pepper”, which Lexi is based on, is used in schools, hotels and businesses. © Keystone / Urs Flueeler Covid-19 has accelerated the transition to online teaching, raising questions about the role of robots in classrooms. Switzerland is rolling out its own robot learning programs, but it’s still a long way off before they will replace teachers. “Hi everyone, I’m Lexi”, a humanoid robot greets a full house at the University of St Gallen. Sabine...

© Nikiforov Oleg | Dreamstime.com The economic impact of the Covid-​19 pandemic has hit low-income households far harder than those on high incomes, according to a study published by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich. Infection rates rise with income More people in the higher income range reported being infected with Covid-19 than those in lower income groups. Among those with incomes below CHF 4,000, 4% said they had tested positive and a further 8%...

Hildebrand had to concede defeat having failed to generate enough support for his candidacy. Keystone / Peter Klaunzer Former Swiss National Bank (SNB) chairman, Philipp Hildebrand, has pulled out of the race to become the next secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Hildebrand announced that he had withdrawn his candidacy on Twitter on Thursday evening. “It was a privilege and an honour to have been Switzerland’s...