Category Archive: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy
Switzerland looks to safeguard gas supplies for winter 2023-2024
With an eye on possible shortages next winter, the government plans to repeat this year’s mitigation strategy of buying reserve stocks. The decision is a repeat of what the government already outlined in May 2022: to head off possible winter gas shortages, authorities want to ensure that the country has six terawatt hours’ worth of gas in reserve stocks in neighbouring countries.
Read More »
Read More »
UBS profits rise after Credit Suisse client defections
UBS enjoyed a 23% rise in pre-tax profits in the final quarter as it benefited from clients switching from rival Credit Suisse. The Swiss bank on Tuesday reported $1.7 billion (CHF1.58 billion) of net profit in the final three months of 2022, comfortably ahead of analyst estimates of $1.3 billion, bringing the group’s profit for the year to $7.6 billion.
Read More »
Read More »
Colossal tax dodging: the odd case of billionaire Pierre Castel
The bill comes to CHF410 million. The amount demanded by the Geneva revenue administration from French billionaire Pierre Castel has drawn the attention of the international press and made waves locally.
Read More »
Read More »
Ranking: Swiss public sector shows corruption and lobbying vulnerability
Switzerland ranked seventh for a second year in a row in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, but its overall score marks a historic low for the country. Nepotism and opaque political lobbying stand out among the Swiss public sector’s trouble spots, according to the international NGO’s Swiss chapter.
Read More »
Read More »
Swiss businesses prepare for escalation with China
Swiss small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) geared to the Asian market are relocating their production to Vietnam, Thailand or India. With such a second location, companies can prepare for a possible escalation in China, according to a top export promoter.
“We’re seeing a trend: ‘China+1’,” said Simone Wyss Fedele, head of export promotion organisation Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE), in an interview with the Schweiz am...
Read More »
Read More »
Covid: 140 million masks set to expire this year
The Swiss government is sitting on a mountain of hygiene masks, bought for the Covid-19 pandemic, and is now desperately looking for alternative uses so they don’t have to be destroyed, according to the SonntagsZeitung.
Read More »
Read More »
Why Western companies still can’t quit Russia
Despite public and political pressure, the mass exodus of Western firms from Russia hasn’t materialised according to a recent study. Why aren’t more cutting ties with Russia despite pledges to do so?
Read More »
Read More »
Swiss start-up funding quadruples within five years
The volume of venture capital that helps aspiring companies get off the ground in Switzerland quadrupled to CHF4 billion ($3.7 billion) between 2017 and 2022.
Read More »
Read More »
China favours Switzerland as a tourist destination
Chinese travel agencies will soon offer tourists 20 destinations around the world. Switzerland, which does not require a Covid test, is one of only two European countries on the list.
Read More »
Read More »
Surfing the American wave: Swiss watch exports reach new heights
Last year Swiss watch exports surpassed CHF24 billion ($26 billion) for the first time. The positive trend is expected to continue into 2023. Journalist and deputy head of the swissinfo.ch editorial group for German, French and Italian. Earlier, worked for Teletext and Switzerland’s French-language national broadcaster.
Read More »
Read More »
Swiss president remains tight-lipped on ‘Covid leaks’
Alain Berset told his ministerial colleagues on Wednesday that he had no knowledge of leaks from his department to the media. In public however Berset remains reluctant to give further information.
Read More »
Read More »
Company takeovers and mergers on the rise in Switzerland
Despite the volatile situation on financial markets and the war in Ukraine, the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) reached a record high in Switzerland in 2022.
Read More »
Read More »
Swiss medicine sales to Russia hit 30-year high
Swiss exports of pharmaceuticals to Russia, which are not subject to sanctions, reached a 30-year record last year, buoyed by high prices. Roche, Novartis and the other Swiss pharma companies brought in CHF2.1 billion ($2.3 billion) from the export of pharmaceuticals to Russia in 2022.
Read More »
Read More »
Why can’t the Swiss National Bank go bankrupt?
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) will make a loss of CHF132 billion in 2022, and distribution of profits to the confederation and the cantons will be suspended. What does this mean for the stability of the SNB and what would happen if it faces another large loss?
Read More »
Read More »
China-Switzerland flights struggle to resume after three years
Geneva airport was expected to see the return of direct flights from China next week, but the scheduled Air China flights of January 26 and February 2 have been cancelled due to lack of passengers, reports Swiss public broadcaster RTS.
Read More »
Read More »
Three Swiss firms ranked among top 100 family businesses
Swiss pharmaceuticals group Roche, logistics company Kühne+Nagel and luxury goods group Richemont are among the world’s top 100 family businesses, according to a study by EY Switzerland.
Read More »
Read More »
Crypto crash fails to deliver death blow to Swiss ambitions
The crypto sector appears to be suffering an existential crisis, shedding jobs, client funds and credibility. Switzerland looks to have escaped with a glancing blow – if industry data is anything to go by.
Read More »
Read More »
The gathering of bone doctors
The Swiss town of Davos is famous for mountain slopes, winter sports and the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. But did you know that it also attracts scientists and doctors from all over the world? In this six-part video series, SWI swissinfo.ch journalists Sara Ibrahim and Michele Andina take you on a journey to discover five of Davos’s research institutes.
In this first episode, they take you to the AO Davos Courses, a two-week...
Read More »
Read More »
WEF: Oxfam urges windfall tax on food companies
Food companies making big profits as inflation has surged should face windfall taxes to help cut global inequality, anti-poverty group Oxfam said on Monday as the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) gets underway in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos.
Read More »
Read More »
UBS eyes US and China expansion
UBS chairman Colm Kelleher says Switzerland’s largest bank needs to expand its wealth management business in the US to compete with the big Wall Street banks.
Read More »
Read More »