Tag Archives: Business

A Norwegian soldier takes part in the removal of Syria’s chemical stockpile in 2014 (Keystone) Switzerland authorised the export to Syria of five metric tons of the chemical isopropanol in 2014, which can be used to make sarin gas, Swiss public television, RTS, reports. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced in May 2014 that Syria had destroyed its stock of 120 metric tons of...

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors attending the 2018 World Bank Group/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington on April 20, 2018 (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Relations between Switzerland and the United States have improved under the Trump administration, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer told Swiss public radio, SRF, on Saturday. Maurer is heading a Swiss delegationexternal link, together with Economics...

The SNB conducts a difficult balancing act to stabilise the national economy. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge As the Swiss franc weakens towards the threshold CHF1.20 exchange rate, the likelihood remains slim that Switzerland’s central bank will alter monetary policy any time soon. On Thursday morning a euro cost CHF1.198 francs. In February, the price of a single euro fell to under CHF1.150. The greater the...

Urs Burkard, representing the family heirs, appeals to the AGM during an address. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge During another stormy annual general meeting, the majority stakeholders of Swiss chemical manufacturer Sika were once again controversially denied the chance to vote in a new chairman who would support their plans to sell the company to a French rival. At Tuesday’s AGM, the family heirs of Sika’s...

The Royal Penthouse Suite at Geneva's President Wilson Hotel is reputedly the most expensive holiday room in the world. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Staying in a hotel in Geneva costs more than anywhere else in Europe, according to an international survey. The €242.90 (CHF288 or $300) average charge per night puts Geneva ahead of Paris (€232.30), while Zurich is listed as the third most expensive...

SR Technics has already shed more than 500 jobs in 2016 citing high staff costs (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Aviation support company SR Technics has announced plans to cut a net 200 jobs at Switzerland’s main airport as part of a business review. The company, which is part of China’s HNA group, announced that it could reduce its workforce in aircraft services by as many as 300 positions while adding more...

A World Wildlife Fund (WWF) survey published on Monday has found that the majority of people in Switzerland are considering shopping less, and young people are particularly likely to take a critical look at their buying behaviour. The Swiss consume “as if there is no tomorrow”: they fly twice as frequently as their neighbours, buy the heaviest cars in Europe, and produce more waste per capita than in any other nation...

Places like Vevey in canton Vaud are tipped to lower rates in the face of impending corporate tax reforms (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Impending corporate tax reforms are likely to reduce rates in higher tax cantons, such as Geneva, Vaud and Basel City, according to KPMG. Overall, the business consultancy group expects Switzerland to remain an attractive location for multinational corporations. Little has...

Train connections to Switzerland were completely cancelled on Tuesday and several flights between Zurich and Paris were also affected. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Nationwide strikes in France against railway reforms have resulted in all rail connections to Switzerland being cancelled on Tuesday. The so-called Black Tuesday marked the first day of a series of strikes expected to last until the end of June....

Swedish businessman Lundgren has been EasyJet's chief executive since December 2017. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge In an interview given to the SonntagsZeitung on Sunday, EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren described the company’s strategy for increasing its already-growing share of passengers in the Swiss market. Lundgren told the German-language paper than in recent years, the low-cost British airline has counted...