Tag Archives: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

Blossoming cooperative ideas: a common economy, consumer protection and equality of the sexes. Dora Hauth-Trachsler/Schweizersiches Sozialarchiv The word “cooperative” is everywhere in Swiss daily life. What’s often forgotten is that cooperatives were once at the forefront of a worldwide movement that advocated for consumer rights, affordable rents – and world peace. In his opening speech at the tenth international congress of the International Cooperative Alliance...

People wait to receive humanitarian aid in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on May 28, 2022. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Despite record public donations for Ukraine, four months since the start of the invasion by Russia, Swiss aid agencies have only been able to spend a small amount of the funds on humanitarian work. An investigationExternal link by the SonntagsZeitung newspaper published on July 10 has revealed that Swiss Solidarity, the Swiss Red...

France’s last-ditch bid to persaude Switzerland to buy its Rafale fighter jet looks to have failed. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. France offered Switzerland a financial sweetener, worth an estimated CHF3.5 billion, to buy its Rafale fighter jets rather than US F-35A aircraft, according to a secret document seen by Swiss public broadcaster SRF. The document sheds light on background negotiations as Switzerland seeks to replace its ageing...

The Swiss press has praised Foreign Minister Cassis for organising the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano earlier this week. © Keystone/Alessandro Della Valle Newspaper editors in Switzerland offered praise mixed with criticism on the two-day international conference in Lugano to support war-torn Ukraine with its reconstruction efforts. The Wednesday edition of the Tages-Anzeiger and other TA Media group papers said the meeting, which ended on Tuesday, was a step...

Around 10% of Swiss homes are equipped with air-conditioning systems. Istvan Balogh / Alamy Stock Photo More intense and frequent heatwaves have caused demand for air conditioning to skyrocket, even in temperate countries like Switzerland. But there is a catch: the cooler the buildings, the warmer the planet. This summer will be hotter than usual. That’s according to a forecast made by the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss) at the end of May,...

The pool of Swiss IT specialists is almost dry © Keystone / Christian Beutler The Swiss economy has recovered well from the Covid-19 crisis, but despite the free movement of people agreement with the EU, some sectors are struggling to recruit qualified staff, says a government report. The unemployment rate in spring 2022 returned to its pre-pandemic level for both Swiss and foreign employees, according to the 18th report of the Observatory on the Free Movement of...

Authorities have raised the spectre of winter rationing, should supplies be disrupted. © Keystone / Christian Beutler The president of the Swissgas industry platform says Switzerland is not aware of how fragile the situation is and that “it would not take much” to lead to a winter shortage. André Dosé told the External linkNeue Zürcher ZeitungExternal link (NZZ) newspaper on Thursday that looming gas shortages elsewhere in Europe and exploding prices amounted to a...

Empty supermarket shelves in Pokrovsk, Ukraine, on July 2 Keystone / Orlando Barria Switzerland will double its aid to Ukraine to CHF100 million ($104 million) by the end of 2023, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis announced at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in the Swiss city of Lugano. He also freed up CHF15 million to support the country’s digital economy. “Ukraine has to lead [its reconstruction] but we have to support it,” said Cassis, who also holds the rotating...

The price of household goods for Swiss consumers rose 3.4% in June compared to the same month last year, led by the surging cost of fuel and heating oil. “Inflation, which has de facto been absent for more than a decade, is back with a vengeance,” said economic forecast group BAK Economics. “However, this is no reason for inflation or stagflation [rising prices combined with slower economic output] panic.” BAK Economics is confident that a number of factors will...

Physicists are hoping for new discoveries by ramping up the energy for the Large Hadron Collider. © Keystone / Laurent Gillieron Ten years after it discovered the Higgs boson, the world’s biggest particle accelerator is poised to smash together protons at record energy levels at the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva, as scientists resume their search for clues to the origins of the universe. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will get back to work on July 5,...