Tag Archives: Business

Swiss watch exports grew by 6.3% in 2018, breaking the CHF21 billion ($21.2 billion) mark. This increase, largely due to Asian markets, is set to continue this year despite uncertainty surrounding the Chinese economy. Swiss watchmakers are cautiously optimistic despite global political and economic uncertainty - Click to enlarge Exports to Hong Kong shot up by 19.1% (to CHF3 billion francs) and to China by 11.7% (to...

Novartis imports some 120 million packs of medicines into the UK each year. - Click to enlarge Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis says a no-deal Brexit could hurt patients and that it is stockpiling medicines in the UK to help ensure continuity of supply. In a press releaseexternal link on Friday, it said that after the British parliament’s rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, “the risk of UK...

Luxury watches are an important status symbol in China, as in many other parts of the world. - Click to enlarge The Sino-Swiss free trade agreement (FTA) is having only a limited effect on the fight against fake watches, according to a Swiss official. Steps taken by Beijing to counter fraud are often not being enforced by courts. Speaking to Swiss public broadcaster SRF, deputy director of the Swiss Federal Institute...

Switzerland with its Gotthard tunnel is a major transit country for goods vehicles travelling between northern and southern Europe. Swiss President and Finance Minister Ueli Maurer has signed two agreements with the UK as part of the government’s strategy to maintain smooth ties after Brexit. The agreements on road transport and non-life insurance were signed with UK Chancellor Philip Hammond at the World Economic Forum...

A worker assembles a coffee grinder at Schaetti, the holding company of Olympia Express, in Schwanden, Switzerland Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland are optimistic about export business at the start of 2019, a new survey has found, with over half expecting foreign sales to grow during the year. “The export climate will remain favourable for Swiss SMEs in 2019,” wrote the authors of a Switzerland...

Crypto-friendly Swiss regulation and data security has enticed many people to keep their bitcoin in Swiss vaults. Bitcoin services provider Xapo is winding down activities at its Hong Kong base and transferring key operations to Switzerland. Xapo president Ted Rogers said the move has been driven by Switzerland’s friendlier regulatory environment. “It was once thought that Hong Kong was the holy grail of crypto...

ABB was among the Swiss companies in big M & A deals last year, selling its power grid division to Hitachi. Its top officials are seen here at a press conference on the USD 9.4 billion deal. The number of merger and acquisition deals involving Swiss companies hit a record high in 2018, according to a report by consultancy firm KPMG. Activity peaked in a number of sectors including financial services, consumer...

The two employees demanded they be reimbursed for losses in exchange rates The Swiss Federal Court has ruled that two Swiss companies do not have to compensate two employees who were paid in euros and who ended up with less than their franc-earning colleagues. Explaining its decisionexternal link on Tuesday, the country’s highest court said the cross-border workers from Germany and France had agreed to a corresponding...

So far, Switzerland’s financial sector has escaped major cyber attacks unscathed according to the watchdog unit. The chief executive of the Swiss financial watchdog, Mark Branson, has called for the creation of a national cyber defence centre. In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, Branson reiterated that Switzerland was lagging on safety standards behind other financial centres. Both the awareness and the...

Time to say good buy? Visitors at the SIHH last year The Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) has opened in Geneva with 35 watch brands showing off their wares. SIHHexternal link will run until Thursday, when it is open to the public, who must register and pay CHF70 ($71.20) in advance. It is the first watch fair of the year and important in terms of setting trends, particularly in the luxury segment. A...