Tag Archives: Business

Minister Cassis meets pupils at the Colegio Suizo Foreign Affairs Minister Ignazio Cassis, currently visiting Chile, has hailed education ties as he visited the country’s Swiss school abroad, the Colegio Suizo. The school, the oldest Swiss school abroad in South America and the only official Swiss school abroad in Chile, is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. The “solid institution”, which offers a...

Soon to be history, at least at events in Geneva Starting in 2020, the city of Geneva will prohibit the sale of disposable plastics at events as well as at sales points on public property – a year ahead of a similar EU ban. The new law will apply to kiosks, terraces, vending vans and ice cream parlours, as well as to all city-approved events held on public property. Banned products include plastic straws, cutlery, cups...

Spot the difference: traffic queues at the motorway A2 southbound at the Gotthard tunnel between Goeschenen and Erstfeld, northbound is largely free Long queues have been reported at the Gotthard tunnel in central Switzerland as holidaymakers head south for the Easter break. The traffic jam at the northern end of the tunnel stands at 12 kilometres, with a wait of almost two hours, the Touring Club of Switzerlandexternal...

Passengers boarding a train in Bern station The national railway operator, Swiss Federal Railways, has set up a taskforce to look into train punctuality – currently 90.1% – after the rate slipped slightly last year. News of the taskforce was broken by CH-Media groupexternal link and confirmed by the Federal Railwaysexternal link to the Swiss public broadcaster SRFexternal link. The group, made up of experienced...

Soybean harvest in Mato Grosso, Brazil (Keystone / Andre Penner) A United Nations representative is demanding action following reports that Swiss crop science company Syngenta is selling highly hazardous pesticides abroad. “There is an urgent need to end this exploitation of lower standards of protection. This is a morally and ethically unjustifiable situation,” Baskut Tuncak, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human...

A bank window panel in Beijing displaying the security markers on the latest 100 Yuan notes in February (Keystone) Swiss bank Credit Suisse has agreed with Founder Securities to increase its shareholding to a majority stake in its Beijing-based Credit Suisse Founder Securities (CSFS) joint venture. As a result of the agreement, Credit Suisse’s shareholding is expected to increase from 33.3% to 51% by way of capital...

A controversial second tunnel will not be ready until at least 2030. (Keystone) The start of the Easter holidays in many Swiss cantons is causing long tailbacks at the Gotthard tunnel in central Switzerland, with waits of more than two hours at the northern end. Just before midday on Saturday, the traffic queue to enter the tunnel going south stretched for 14 kilometres, according to the Touring Club of...

Some in Switzerland fear the health effects of increased radiation from 5G antennas. (Keystone) Telecoms operator Swisscom says it plans to cover 90% of Switzerland with “5G” fifth-generation mobile communications by the end of this year. “As soon as we have the concession for the new mobile frequencies, we will activate our networks,” Swisscom director Urs Schaeppi told the media on Wednesday. The networks were put in...

Pill-producing in a Santhera factory in canton Aargau. (© Keystone / Christian Beutler) An investigative report by a group of Swiss newspapers has revealed the extent to which pharmaceutical companies are funding hospitals, doctors, and medical centres in the country. CHF458 million ($456.5 million): this was the amount paid by the 60 pharma companies based in Switzerland to various arms of the medical profession...

Canton Geneva recorded higher than normal bankruptcies and losses. (Keystone) Last year saw a record number of bankruptcy procedures opened in Switzerland, with almost 14,000 cases involving bust businesses and individuals. The record numbers, released on Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office, mark a 5.4% increase on 2017 and translate to overall financial losses of some CHF2 billion ($2 billion). Every canton in...