Tag Archives: Business

Jörg Gasser wants to pursue a new career path (Keystone) The State Secretary for International Finance, Jörg Gasser, is to step down in February after three years in office. It was Gasser’s decision to leave the post, according to a statement by the finance ministry on Wednesday. Among his most important tasks was the development of bilateral relations and cooperation with new and emerging markets, notably in Asia, the...

“Angry masons from Neuchâtel” reads the sign. Following strikes in Ticino and Geneva earlier this month, 1,500 construction workers have continued the protest in French-speaking Switzerland. According to the labour unions, more than 1,500 workers from cantons Freiburg, Neuchâtel, Valais and Jura put their tools down on Tuesday. About 80% of construction sites in the canton of Neuchâtel were shut down – an impressive...

Slabs of beef hang inside a lorry in Buenos Aires, Swiss farmers fear a deal with the Mercosur countries would result in cheap meat flooding the Swiss market. (Keystone) A coalition of Swiss farming organisations, consumers and NGOs says it is in favour of a free trade agreement between Switzerland and the four Mercosur countries: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. But it is demanding binding criteria concerning...

A Post bus on a route on the Flüela Pass in Graubünden (© KEYSTONE / PETRA OROSZ) - Click to enlarge The state-owned PostBus company is threatened with losing bus routes in several regions, following a scandal over illegal subsidies. Jura is the first canton that will put its 38 routes out to tender next spring, SonntagsZeitungexternal link has reported. “We were not convinced of the costs and quality of the post...

Economics Minister Schneider-Ammann (second from right) and his counterparts from Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein attended a panel discussion at the ETH Zurich on digitalisation. A campaign has been launched to promote digitalisation in small companies based in Swiss mountain regions. On Wednesday, the Federation of Adult Learningexternal link and Swiss Mountain Aidexternal link presented a project for companies with...

Home to just 0.1% of the world’s population, Switzerland accounts for 1.8% of the top 1% of global wealth holders (Keystone) Despite a slight decline in fortunes, the Swiss still enjoy the highest mean wealth per adult, according to the 2018 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report. The reportexternal link, released on Thursday, estimated the average fortune of a Swiss adult to be $530,240 (CHF527,707) compared to $537,600...

More than 100 countries out of the 140 ranked in the WEF Global Competitiveness Index score lower than 50 (out of 100) in the area of innovation capabilities. A major update to the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Index reveals that the global economy is ill-prepared for the transformation brought on by technology disruption. While the United States comes the closest to the “competitive frontier”...

Construction workers meeting before a rally in Bellinzona, canton Ticino. Some 3,000 construction workers staged a strike in southern Switzerland on Monday to protest changes in the industry, including disputes around the retirement age of 60. Further action is planned in Geneva on Tuesday. The strikes in canton Ticino were jointly called by the Unia, Syna, and OCST trade unions, who claimed that business leaders were...

The plans foresee continued government subsidies to ensure animals’ well-being. The main Swiss business federation has released its recommendations for the government’s sensitive reforms of the agriculture sector. Farmers’ groups reacted with cautious approval. Economiesuisseexternal link gave its appraisal of the government’s 2022 agricultural reform plans on Monday, an appraisal that mostly centred around the...

Demand for house ownership continues to be high. Cantonal banks and the three leading financial institutes currently hold the lion’s share in the mortgage market. Swiss retail banks may face increased competition by a leading United States bank on the domestic housing market. The Goldman Sachs group is reportedly considering plans to enter the Swiss mortgage market, according to the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. The...