Tag Archives: Swiss Markets and News

Soil formation is a very slow process: it takes between 10 and 30 years, depending on the area, for the thickness of a layer of earth to grow by 1 millimetre. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge A first nationwide report on the health of Swiss soils has shown that virtually all are polluted and that the resource is not being put to sustainable use. The report, published Thursday by the Federal Office for the...

Rajasthan has one of the highest maternal and newborn mortality rates in India (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The Zurich-based UBS Optimus Foundation has announced the launch of the first Development Impact Bond (DIB) in the field of healthcare. If successful, it could save over 10,000 lives in India. The foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of the Swiss bank UBS, will invest a total of $3.5 million...

Swiss beer fans can enjoy an increasingly diverse selection (Keystone/Angelika Warmuth) - Click to enlarge The amount of beer consumed in Switzerland declined last year, as it did for wine. Yet the number of specialist craft microbreweries continues to rise. Between October 2016 and September 2017, the Swiss drank 461 million litres of beer (54.5 litres per person) – down 0.2% on the previous reporting...

After the Swiss mountain village of Albinen hatched a plan to pay parents (CHF 25,000 each) and children (CHF 10,000 each) to move there, it has been inundated with applicants. Articles about the offer have been published by Time, The Sunday Times, The Sun, El Pais, and many other publications. Rather than celebrating, the picturesque town’s administration is unhappy. It published a statement on its website accusing...

Prior to the grounding, the regional carrier offered flights from Lugano to Geneva and Rome (Keystone) Switzerland’s Darwin Airline, the Lugano-based regional carrier, was forced to halt all its flights on Tuesday after its licence was revoked by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) over financial problems. “The FOCA has announced the immediate withdrawal of the operating licence of the Darwin company (Adria...

© Calvin Leake | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge According to the newspaper Bilanz, Amazon has signed an agreement with Swiss post to provide rapid customs clearance. The head of postal customs, Felix Stierli, confirmed discussions with the company.A maximum customs clearance time of 3 hours will allow 24-hour delivery, one element of Amazon’s Prime offer. Once Prime is available, Swiss customers will be able to access...

The city of Geneva honoured Schwab this year for his work in relation to WEF, which is based in Geneva. (© KEYSTONE / SALVATORE DI NOLFI) - Click to enlarge In an interview with newspaper NZZamSonntag, Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, says that WEF is more relevant than ever. “We’re the witnesses to a transformation from a unipolar to a multipolar world. In this situation, the attempt to...

© Marko Bukorovic | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge Switzerland’s deal with the EU involves a financial contribution. The sum announced by the Federal Council is CHF 1.3 billion over the next 10 years.The arrangement, announced on Thursday to coincide with a visit by european commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, extends a previous 10 year deal. Not everyone is happy with the deal. Some, such as the Swiss...

© Luis Pablo Escoto Hernandez | Dreamstime - Click to enlarge A recent report by Travail.Suisse shows around 40% of Swiss workers report feeling often or very often stressed by their work.Stress and emotional exhaustion is a daily reality for many says Travail.Suisse. Between 2015 and 2017, the percentage suffering work related stress or emotional exhaustion has risen from 38% to 48%. A key issue appears to be loss...

The wealthiest people in one of the world’s wealthiest nations – Switzerland, have increased their assets by CHF60 billion over the past year. According to the latest edition of the German-language business magazine, Bilanz, the 300 richest residents of the country have assets totalling CHF674 billion.    + Read why Switzerland is attractive to wealthy foreigners The richest family on the list remains IKEA’s...