Category Archive: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

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Lonza to create 1,200 new jobs at vaccine-production site

2021-04-12

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2021-04-12

The Swiss pharmaceutical company is recruiting workers to join its new plant in southern Switzerland, where three production lines have been set up to manufacture an active ingredient of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.

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Foreign firms creating more jobs in Switzerland despite pandemic

2021-04-11

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2021-04-11

Switzerland has remained an attractive location for foreign firms, creating more jobs last year than in 2019 - despite the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Swiss public television SRF and RTS have reported.

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All electric pledge by Swiss car-sharing firm

2021-04-08

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2021-04-08

Car-sharing company Mobility says it will electrify its entire fleet of 3,000 vehicles and build a network of e-charging stations by 2030.

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Electric cars – how much cleaner are they?

2021-04-05

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Are electric vehicles really more eco-friendly than other types of cars? The Swiss TV consumer magazine ‘Kassensturz’ used a new climate calculator to find the answers, comparing the carbon footprints of electric cars with those of other types over the entire lifespan of the vehicles. The tool was developed by the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) automobile association.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting...

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Switzerland asks EU for exception to vaccine export rules

2021-04-05

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2021-04-05

As of this week, Switzerland can no longer import Covid vaccines from the European Union (EU) without a special license. Officials in Bern have asked to be granted an exception to the stricter conditions.

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Swiss firms hold out hopes in US infrastructure upgrade

2021-04-04

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2021-04-04

US President Joe Biden’s major infrastructure plan is raising high hopes for Swiss firms in the construction and building industry. Although first contracts are expected to go to local firms, experts believe Swiss firms could score opportunities thanks to their specialisation and presence in the US market.

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Nestlé attacks food benefits of Brazilian workers during the pandemic

2021-04-03

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2021-04-03

The Swiss multinational is celebrating 100 years in Brazil but its poorest workers face food voucher cuts amid rising food prices caused by the pandemic. After a century of doing business in Brazil – Nestlé’s fifth largest market with CHF2.79 billion ($2.94 billion) in sales in 2020 – the Swiss food manufacturer faces the discontent of trade unions in the South American country. 

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Switzerland and ILO sign agreement on development cooperation

2021-04-02

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2021-04-02

Economics Minister Guy Parmelin and the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Guy Ryder, have concluded an agreement on development cooperation. Parmelin, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, also announced that Switzerland had joined a global platform to combat child labour, forced labour and human trafficking, the government said on Thursday.

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Private sector joins government to protect ‘Swissness’ abroad

2021-04-01

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2021-04-01

Major industry associations have joined forces with public agencies to combat free-riders who abuse the “Swiss brand” abroad. The association for Swissness enforcement is intended to foster coordinated action against the wrongful use abroad of Swiss indications of source.

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The Swiss textile machinery industry has a China dilemma

2021-03-31

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2021-03-31

Amid allegations of forced labour involving Uyghur and other minorities in the garment supply chain, the Swiss textile machinery sector faces thorny questions about its ties to and reliance on China. In 2014, the same year the Swiss-China free trade deal went into force, a group of industry colleagues including a representative of the Swiss firm Uster Technologies visitedExternal link cotton gins and spinning mills in Xinjiang, Western China.

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Electric cars are on the way, but is Switzerland ready?

2021-03-30

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2021-03-30

Last year saw a surge in new electric vehicle (EV) sales worldwide and Switzerland was no exception. But the experience of frontrunner countries like Norway shows that some things will have to change if the Swiss electric car revolution is to keep pace in the years ahead and reduce carbon emissions.

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Credit Suisse and Nomura warn of losses after Archegos-linked sell-off

2021-03-30

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2021-03-30

Credit Suisse and Nomura have warned of large losses after a fire sale of about $20bn of Chinese and US stocks, as their client Archegos Capital Management was forced into a huge unwinding of assets.

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Credit Suisse warns of ‘highly significant’ loss linked to hedge fund

2021-03-29

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2021-03-29

The Swiss bank Credit Suisse says it may face a “highly significant” loss in the first quarter due to an unnamed American hedge fund client defaulting on margin calls. In a statement issued on Monday, the bank said: “While at this time it is premature to quantify the exact size of the loss resulting from this exit, it could be highly significant and material to our first quarter results”.

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Covid-19: Can Swiss artists survive on current support measures?

2021-03-29

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2021-03-29

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the Swiss arts scene. Support measures have been introduced to “preserve cultural diversity” and some cantons have even launched monthly income support schemes for artists. But will these measures be enough?

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Swiss-EU relations hang in the balance

2021-03-23

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Discussions between the EU and Switzerland over the future of their bilateral relations could be on the verge of collapse. Over 100 bilateral treaties set the terms of relations between the two. These need updating. A framework agreement has been hammered out over seven years but there are sticking points and the deal is under fire from across the Swiss political spectrum. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting...

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Pandemic hurts box office takings at Swiss cinemas

2021-03-23

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2021-03-23

Ticket sales at Swiss cinemas plummeted by two-thirds last year as venues were forced to close their doors. Of the films that could be shown, Swiss movies made up a greater share of the total offering.

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Swiss ‘too big to fail’ banks pose little risk to the economy

2021-03-21

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2021-03-21

Three of Switzerland’s “too big to fail” banks no longer threaten to cause a seismic shift in the economy should they collapse, says the financial regulator. Zurich Cantonal Bank, PostFinance and the Raiffeisen banking group are now deemed to have put into place credible plans for an orderly bankruptcy.

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Switzerland is wrangling over implementation of tougher tobacco laws

2021-03-20

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2021-03-20

The Swiss parliament is currently debating tightening restrictions on advertising of tobacco products. This comes after a people’s initiative calls for a radical advertising ban to protect children.

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How the Swiss central bank could control the cost of pandemic debt

2021-03-18

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2021-03-18

The cost of paying off spiralling national debt in the United States and Switzerland is rising as interest rates increase. This makes the financing of pandemic expenditure more expensive. That's not a problem in Japan where the central bank is holding interest rates in check. Would the Japanese recipe also be something for Switzerland?

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Bitcoin Suisse bank license bid hits regulatory roadblock

2021-03-18

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2021-03-18

Cryptocurrency firm Bitcoin Suisse has withdrawn its application for a banking license, in part because it failed to meet the anti-money laundering requirements of the Swiss financial regulator.

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