Swiss firms focus on CeBIT

Switzerland's high-tech firms have their eyes focused on the German city of Hannover over the next week to present their latest products at the world's largest information technology show, CeBIT.

Switzerland’s high-tech firms have their eyes focused on the German city of Hannover over the next week to present their latest products at the world’s largest information technology show, CeBIT.

With 126 companies flying the Swiss flag, Switzerland ranks number five in the countries exhibiting at the annual World Business Fair for Office Automation, Information Technology and Telecommunications.

The Swiss Office for Trade Promotion (OSEC), the official federal agency for the delopment of exports, says that 33 companies will exhibit at its stand. While the number of Swiss exporters has slightly risen, the amount of exhibition space they will use has gone down, OSEC reports.

OSEC is organising four pavilions at the show, which runs from 24 February to 1 March, and will act as a meeting-point for visitors who wish to know what Switzerland has to offer.

The pavilions are:
– Hall 004: Stand B52 Software. E-Commerce, Services
– Hall 009: Stand A04 Information Technology, Multimedia
– Hall 017: Stand D69 Telecommunication
– Hall 016: Stand D45 Research and Technology Transfer

Switzerland will host an “official Swiss day” at CeBIT next Monday, with the theme: “High Tech, Competitiveness, Diplomacy”. The event will be attended by Swiss balloonist Bertrand Piccard, who with Britain’s Brian Jones last year made the first non-stop balloon flight around the world.

The Swiss ambassador to Germany, Thomas Borer, will open the day’s events, while the official delegation will be led by David Syz, state secretary in the economics ministry.

The CeBIT organisers are expecting 700,000 visitors to the fair which extends over a space the equivalent of 55 soccer pitches.

From staff and wire reports