Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

Sika has more than 300 plants worldwide (Keystone) The French building materials and distribution group Saint-Gobain has announced the sale of its 10.75% stake in the capital of the Swiss chemical manufacturer Sika. Saint-Gobain said in a press releaseexternal link on Tuesday that it would dispose of “of its entire stake in Sikaexternal link of approximately 15.2 million shares, representing 10.75% of Sika’s share capital”, without mentioning any financial amount....

The decentralised SwissCovid app is the first in the world to use the OS updates from Apple and Google.  (Keystone / Laurent Gillieron) Authorities have released the source code of the SwissCovid app to the public to allow experts and hackers to detect any risks to privacy before the official launch. The source code of the decentralised contact tracing app DP-3T, developed by the two Swiss federal institutes of technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) and Lausanne (EPFL)...

© Scaliger | Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s Federal Council plans to lift all travel restrictions and re-establish free movement of persons across the Schengen area no later than 6 July 2020 and possibly as early as mid June, it announced today. If the epidemiological evolution allows, restrictions on entering, working and living in Switzerland will be lifted for all Schengen states from mid-June and no later than 6 July, said the government. The Schengen area, which...

This year’s car show was cancelled four days prior to its opening due to the coronavirus outbreak, costing an estimated loss of CHF11 million for the organisers of Switzerland’s largest event. (Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi) The 2021 edition of the Geneva International Motor Show remains touch and go after the organisers rejected the terms surrounding a state rescue loan. This year’s car show was cancelled four days prior to its opening due to the coronavirus...

[caption id="attachment_459835" align="alignleft" width="400"] © Vladimir Fedorov | Dreamstime.com[/caption] Working from home is a mixed bag of pros and cons for most Swiss who were surveyed by gfs.bern in March and April 2020. But it worked for most. In 2019, before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, around 1.1 million employees in Switzerland occasionally worked from home. During the pandemic the number of hours worked at home...

Watches were among the poorest performing Swiss exports in April. (© Keystone / Gaetan Bally) Swiss watch exports slumped by over 80% last month, recording sales of just CHF329 million ($339 million) – compared with CHF1.76 billion in April 2019. Both exports and imports in all industries endured a predictably dire performance as Covid-19 resulted in national lockdowns. Figures from the Federal Customs Administrationexternal link on Tuesday revealed the gravity of...

While demand for public transport collapsed during Switzerland’s partial lockdown, bicycle usage soared across the country. But greater acceptance of cycling nationwide will depend on further political decisions and transport planning. Ernst Leuthold, the owner of a bike shop in Bern, can’t believe his eyes. “It’s amazing to see all these people who haven’t been on a bike for years and then suddenly feel the need to do so,” he declared. Daniel Schärer, director of...

© Rostislav Ageev | Dreamstime.com Since 11:50 am on 26 May 2020, Swisscom’s mobile and landline networks have been experiencing problems. Landline and mobile network calls are currently impaired for business and private customers, according to Swisscom. The company said its specialists are working on rectifying a fault that started at 11:50am on 26 May 2020. According the Swiss government website alert.swiss the network disturbance is affecting 14 cantons. Update:...

The future of tourism? A couple of hikers by the Seealpsee in northeastern Switzerland on May 17 (Keystone) Going on holiday in one’s own country and in the countryside, in smaller groups and sometimes with restrictions – this is the new reality to which the tourism industry must adapt, according to a study by the University of St Gallen. Mobility and socialising: both are undesirable in times of Covid-19. The tourism industry was therefore the first to be affected...

Zurich Airport, as pictured in mid-March (Keystone / Ennio Leanza) The head of a major Swiss travel agency has complained that Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is not helping to reimburse clients fast enough. In the event of cancellations such as those prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Swiss package tour operators are legally obliged to provide refunds. But according to Thomas Stirnimann, the chief executive officer of Hotelplan, SWISS is not repaying the...