Category Archive: 3) Swiss Markets and News

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‘Playful’ Swiss cheese marks record sales

2023-01-11

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2023-01-11

Switzerland’s Tête de Moine (Monk’s Head) cheese broke all-time sales and production records last year, due particularly to its “conviviality”, according to the sector’s president.

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From cocoa bean to chocolate: the process explained

2023-01-10

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The chocolate supply chain features many intermediaries from bean to bar. Those doing the hardest jobs at the bottom of the chain get a tiny portion of a bar's price while those at the top make the most money. Today, Ivory Coast and Ghana produce over 60% of the world’s cocoa beans and Switzerland has become synonymous with chocolate. This mutually beneficial relationship has come under strain in recent years. The West African countries are no...

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Swiss jobless rate sinks as unions demand more pay

2023-01-10

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2023-01-10

The rate of unemployment in Switzerland fell to 2.2% last year, the lowest rate in 20 years, according to official statistics. At the same time, trade unions complained that wages were too low for many workers and demanded more pay. On Monday, the State Secretariat for Economic affairs (Seco) said the jobless rate fell from 3% in 2021 to 2.2% last year.

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Swiss rents and property prices up in 2022

2023-01-10

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2023-01-10

A sharp rise in rent in December 2022 (+1.1%) left the average Swiss rent 4.3% higher than at the beginning of 2022, according to the Swiss Real Estate Offer Index, published on 4 January 2023 by SMG Swiss Marketplace Group. This annual jump of 4.3% exceeds the annual CPI increase of 2.8% announced this week.

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How To Design Corporate Budget For A Growing Company

2023-01-09

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2023-01-09

The success of a business organization depends, to quite an extent, on the planning of resources. This planning keeps the business way above others. Budgeting, therefore, becomes a critical aspect of accounting. However, please keep in mind that financial planning in business is steeped in challenges because of the economic turmoil.

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Swiss central bank posts record CHF132 billion loss for 2022

2023-01-09

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2023-01-09

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has posted an annual loss of CHF132 billion ($143 billion) for 2022, the biggest in its 115-year history. “The loss on foreign currency positions amounted to around CHF131 billion and the loss on Swiss franc positions was around CHF1 billion. A valuation gain of CHF400 million was recorded on gold holdings,” the SNB said in a statement on Monday.

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Data centres account for 4 percent of Swiss electricity usage

2023-01-09

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2023-01-09

Data centres are expanding rapidly in Switzerland, with such facilities already accounting for 4% of national energy – more than the farming sector.

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Davos apartment rental prices spike ahead of WEF

2023-01-07

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2023-01-07

Visitors travelling to the mountain town of Davos for this month’s World Economic Forum (WEF) could face pricey rates, according to Swiss media. The Schweiz am Wochenende newspaper writes on Saturday that a three-bed studio in the canton Graubünden town costs CHF2,600 ($2,800) per night during the WEF, runs from January 16-20. With service charges and cleaning, this comes to CHF15,000 for the five nights of the event, the paper writes.

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Uber side-stepped Swiss rules, says whistleblower

2023-01-07

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2023-01-07

A former top lobbyist for Uber says the firm wilfully ignored regulations when it began operating in Switzerland in 2013. Uber says it has since updated its working model. By choosing to act first and apologise later in implementing its gig-economy model, Uber “massively undermined” democracy in many countries, including Switzerland, former lobbyist Mark MacGann told Tamedia newspapers on Saturday.

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Swiss examine Covid test obligation for travellers from China

2023-01-06

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2023-01-06

While countries around the world impose curbs on travellers from China as Covid-19 cases there surge, the Swiss authorities are still weighing up possible measures. On Wednesday health experts from the 27 EU member states couldn’t agree on compulsory testing for travellers from China, but they strongly recommended it.The EU health experts also recommended, among other things, that medical or FFP2 masks be worn on aircraft from China.The...

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Thank You!

2023-01-04

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2022 was a colourful, challenging year for SWI swissinfo.ch. Here's a taste of some of the reports we produced, and products we launched. We want to thank you for supporting us, and look forward to new adventures in 2023. Happy NewYear! --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles,...

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Over 50,000 new Swiss companies were founded in 2022

2023-01-04

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2023-01-04

A total of 50,015 companies set up in Switzerland last year thanks to a late surge in the last quarter. The number of new firms entering the marketplace has remained stable. The total corresponds to a drop of 1% compared to 2021 and an increase of 7% compared to 2020, according to data from commercial registers compiled by Help.ch published on Tuesday. 

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Ukrainian paintings showcased in Switzerland

2023-01-03

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The Kunstmuseum Basel has tweaked its programme to welcome 49 paintings brought out of Ukraine. The exhibition was organised in collaboration with the Kyiv Picture Gallery and will be open until April 30, 2022. "When the war broke out, all the colleagues from the museum in Kyiv packed the works and tried to close the windows to bring as much security as possible to the building," said Osadtschy. The national gallery's director started...

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Electric cars continue to gain ground in Switzerland

2023-01-02

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2023-01-02

Around one in four new cars purchased last year in Switzerland were either 100% electric or plug-in hybrid models. The country’s best-selling model was an electric car: the Tesla Model Y, the Swiss eMobility association reported on Monday.

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Switzerland could hit the 9 million population mark

2023-01-01

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2023-01-01

The Swiss population is set to surpass the 9 million mark in 2023, according to calculations by the SonntagsZeitung.

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Switzerland in 2023: New year, new laws

2023-01-01

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2023-01-01

From getting a drone licence to paying for Covid tests, here’s a selection of ten legal tweaks that came into force in Switzerland on January 1. AIRLINES: Passengers can claim more compensation for delayed or lost luggage – up to around CHF1,640 ($1,770). Previously it was CHF1,520. The tedious paperwork hasn’t changed, however.

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Accessing cancer treatment in Kenya

2022-12-27

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We met Lucia Syokau Muli in Makueni, south of Nairobi: she found out she had breast cancer at the age of 27. She explained us how she is dealing with her diagnosis and the challenges she faces accessing treatment. Cost is one of Lucia’s biggest worries, she tells SWI when we meet outside the Empower cancer clinic at the county hospital. The biggest financial strain is the recurring cost of trastuzumab, which Swiss pharma firm Roche sells as...

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Companies invest more money in R&D in Switzerland

2022-12-20

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2022-12-20

Firms invested CHF16.8 billion ($18 billion) in research and development (R&D) activities in Switzerland last year, a 4% increase compared to 2019.

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Price manipulation to be banned in Swiss energy sector

2022-12-20

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2022-12-20

Switzerland plans to enact laws to prevent price manipulation and insider trading in its domestic energy markets.

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Growth forecasts for Switzerland lowered further

2022-12-20

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2022-12-20

Growth forecasts for Switzerland have been revised downwards for the current year and 2023 by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute, amid fears of a global recession and the war in Ukraine. The economists also changed their predictions for inflation.

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