Tag Archives: Swiss Markets and News

The Basel-based firm employs 120,000 people worldwide. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has announced that it plans to cut 500 jobs at its Basel headquarters in Switzerland over the next 18 months. It says it will also create 350 new posts, mostly in its biotech business. Novartis said in a statement on Thursday that it planned to cut up to 500 jobs in the Basel area or to relocate workers to other sites over the...

The Swiss agriculture sector is “vulnerable” to competition, says the WTO. (Keystone) The European Union and the United States have criticised Switzerland for the over-protection of its agricultural sector. Responding to the questions raised at the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO), Switzerland said it would make an effort to ease protections, on condition that other member states do likewise. The statements...

© Gyuszko | Dreamstime.com 20 Minutes. A pilot bio-monitoring project in Switzerland will measure traces of pollutants and micronutrient and endocrine disruptors in organic samples. According to 20 Minutes, the impact of certain chemical products worries the authorities. The pilot project was launched last week by the executive branch of Switzerland’s government, known as the Federal Council. Depending on the results, a...

A majority of commentators in Swiss newspapers are pleased with voters’ decision to withdraw from nuclear power and promote renewable energies, even if the government’s energy strategy leaves many open questions. A big win for the Swiss energy minister - Click to enlarge The Basler Zeitung sees a “change of direction with numerous open questions” following Sunday’s vote (58% of voters) in favour of Energy...

Links between parliamentarians in Bern and lobby groups have grown steadily in recent years, according to a study by the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva. Between 2007 and 2015, these sorts of ties between interest groups and politicians increased by 20%. Links between parliamentarians and interest groups grew by 20% between 2007 and 2015. - Click to enlarge The academic research, featured in Swiss newspaper Le...

Zurich – © Europhotos | Dreamstime.com Six Swiss regions make the top ten most prosperous regions of Europe measured in terms of GDP per person, according to an analysis by the University of Lausanne. The six Swiss regions are Zurich (3rd), Ticino (4th), Basel (5th), the region around Zug (6th), Bern-Solothurn (7th) and Suisse romande, Switzerland French-speaking region (8th). The only regions ranked higher were...

The numbers of farms in Switzerland has halved since 1980 - Click to enlarge The trend for fewer but larger farms continued in Switzerland last year, with the total number dropping by 990 to 52,263. While small and conventionally farmed businesses were throwing in the towel, organic agriculture flourished.  The number of jobs in farming dropped 1.3% to 153,400, of which two-thirds were full-time, the Federal...

The Syngenta deal is one of a trio of megamergers (Keystone) Syngenta, the Swiss agribusiness group which is being acquired by ChemChina in the biggest foreign takeover by a Chinese company, will help Beijing modernise China’s farm sector while simultaneously remaining firmly a “western company”, its chairman has said. Michel Demaré told The Financial Times that, under its new owners, Syngenta would become “a partner of...

A pack of wolves invade Wall Street to promote the movie The real “Wolf of Wall Street“, Jordan Belfort, who was immortalised by Hollywood after serving jail time for stock market fraud, will be teaching sales techniques to business people in Zurich. Not everyone is pleased to see a convicted criminal passing on his secrets. Belfort is due to give a motivational talk in Zurich on May 13 to an audience stumping up CHF799...

Fake news: the role of social media remains controversial. (Keystone) Remain vigilant, continue to monitor, but no need for concerted federal action. This was the conclusion of a cabinet report Wednesday on social media and the problems it can provoke, including “fake news” and distorting public opinion. The cabinet decided that, for now, more regulation is not the solution. The phenomena of fake news and alternative...