Banking & Fintech

Plans to help Swiss film industry compete with Hollywood

This content was published on May 24, 2000 Culture versus commerce is a perennial theme. Switzerland’s film industry is tiny and relies on sponsorship and other financial support, not least from the cantons and the federal authorities, as well as Swiss television. The interior ministry says much of the Swiss film distribution market is an oligopoly, dominated by blockbuster productions from Hollywood. This…

Wooing the world with the wonders of Swiss wine

This content was published on May 24, 2000 Wine production is concentrated in the west of the country, especially in canton Valais. The area is the sunniest in Switzerland and its complex soil structure and southerly winds also favour the vineyards. Swiss wine may not be as famous as that of its neighbours but the reason for that may lie in its domestic…

Practical and cool: Swiss design hits the pavement

This content was published on May 24, 2000 The scooter, which costs about SFr270, weighs only 2.7 kilogrammes and folds-up to the size of an umbrella. It is made from a 35-centimetre-long aluminium shaft, a pullout handlebar, and hard rubber wheels similar to those on inline skates. A rear mudguard also acts as a brake. The scooter can be unfolded and ready for…

Alarm bells sound at SAirGroup over German demands

This content was published on May 24, 2000 It was reacting to Germany’s announcement on Tuesday that, at the end of May 2001, it would withdraw from an agreement with Switzerland which regulates inward and outward bound flights from Zurich’s Kloten airport. In a statement, the SAirGroup said, “Zurich airport is Swissair’s home base and also a major operations centre for the regional…

Coop puts shopping on the rails

This content was published on May 24, 2000 The new Railshop will initially be in train compositions on the busy Berne to Zurich route and will open for business when the new timetable comes into force on May 29. “Finding places at railway stations for our Pronto shops according to the criteria and speed we wanted was almost a mission impossible, says Coop’s…

Insurance company to respect resting place of Swissair victims

This content was published on May 23, 2000 The aeroplane was carrying diamonds worth an estimated 200 million dollars when it crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia in September 1998. But in a statement, Lloyds insisted that it had never intended to recover the gems. “The reputation of Lloyds is dependent upon its integrity,” the statement said. “Because of this Lloyds will…

Germany tears up flight treaty with Switzerland

This content was published on May 23, 2000 Germany unilaterally terminated the accord, which regulates in and outgoing flights from Zurich’s Kloten airport. The German transport minister, Reinhard Klimmt, has given one year’s notice for the cancellation of the 1984 agreement, carrying out a threat he made in April. Klimmt had said he would terminate the accord unless Switzerland agreed to cut the…

Switzerland presses for further talks with EU

This content was published on May 23, 2000 The trip comes only two days after the Swiss people adopted a series of seven bilateral accords with the EU. The accords virtually break down all trade barriers between Switzerland and the 15 member states of the EU in the fields of road and air transport, research, and public procurement contracts. Agriculture will be partly…

Task force calls for improvements in tunnel safety

This content was published on May 23, 2000 The Tunnel Task Force urged the government to release an extra SFr80-100 million to improve safety standards in motorway tunnels over the next four to five years. The group was set up last year following deadly accidents in tunnels in neighbouring France and Austria. In March 1999, 42 people were killed in a fire in…

The past and future of communications

This content was published on May 23, 2000 The focus of the exhibition in the city’s Kornhaus is not on technology but on the imagination of people as communicators, often far in advance of technological capability. Visitors to the exhibition begin their journey through five so-called “time islands” at an airport check-in desk, and then advance further into the future as they move…

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Banking & Fintech

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Plans to help Swiss film industry compete with Hollywood

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Wooing the world with the wonders of Swiss wine

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Practical and cool: Swiss design hits the pavement

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Alarm bells sound at SAirGroup over German demands

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Coop puts shopping on the rails

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Insurance company to respect resting place of Swissair victims

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Germany tears up flight treaty with Switzerland

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Switzerland presses for further talks with EU

More

Task force calls for improvements in tunnel safety

More

The past and future of communications

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