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Fresh water from the sea

This content was published on Mar 6, 2003 The Swiss-Swedish engineering firm, ABB, has been heavily involved in powering the UAE’s water desalination programme. Seated in his office looking over Abu Dhabi, Christian Schenk, ABB’s head of sales and marketing, has every reason to smile. The company employs around 100 staff and business is looking healthy; the region’s constant demand for fresh water…

Swiss keep their hands firmly on the taps

This content was published on Mar 6, 2003 But privatisation is fiercely opposed by both the public and the water industry, which say the consequences would be higher prices and poorer service. “There is pressure from a few big water multinationals – mainly the two French companies Vivendi and Suez Lyonnaise,” says Madeleine Bolliger of the Swiss Coalition of Development Organisations, a lobby…

Swiss rivers allowed to flow freely

This content was published on Mar 6, 2003 One example of “re-naturalisation” – where a body of water is restored to its natural state – is the river Emme near Burgdorf in canton Bern. “For a while I thought I was a tourist guide,” Ruedi Mosimann, a water construction engineer with the Bern water authorities, told swissinfo, recalling times when delegations from all…

Swiss resist attempts to tap into water market

This content was published on Mar 6, 2003 The EU and Switzerland have launched preliminary consultations on a raft of requests they have made to the World Trade Organization. Brussels made the request for Switzerland to liberalise its water distribution network following pressure from multinationals like the French companies Vivendi-Générale des Eaux and Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux, which would like to get a foothold…

Is bottled water safer than tap water?

This content was published on Mar 6, 2003 The 2001 study, commissioned by the Swiss-based World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), said that in many cases the only difference is that bottled water comes in a fancy container, rather than out of a tap. It found that “there are more standards regulating tap water in Europe and the United States than those applied…

Swiss push for EU tax concessions

This content was published on Mar 6, 2003 EU finance ministers are to discuss the Swiss demands on Friday, with Italy and Spain expected to lead resistance. The Swiss finance minister, Kaspar Villiger, said Switzerland was ready to join an EU-wide agreement on savings taxation, provided Brussels exempted Swiss firms from certain tax obligations. “We’ve found compromise on everything except one issue,” Villiger…

An ambivalent relationship with Switzerland

This content was published on Mar 6, 2003 In May 1997, Eizenstat released a study on Nazi Germany’s use of looted gold. His foreword was taken by the Swiss to be an attack on them for having allegedly prolonged the Second World War. However, Eizenstat insists that this was a misinterpretation. While praising Switzerland for the lessons it has learned from its wartime…

Central bank slashes interest rates

This content was published on Mar 6, 2003 The Bank lopped half a percentage point off its key short-term interest rate, effectively pushing rates down to just a quarter of one per cent. The cut came just after the European Central Bank reduced its rates by 0.25 per cent, and earned the Swiss bank plaudits for its bold move. “The ECB cut was…

Swiss looking to cut costs

This content was published on Mar 6, 2003 But, he said, cost-cutting measures could only be implemented after Swiss had renegotiated contracts with its suppliers. Bouw told swissinfo he regretted having to cut staff at Swiss and reduce the size of the fleet in February. He added that the decision to modify the Eurohub strategy at Basel airport and cut capacity by one…

Swiss Life warns of record loss

This content was published on Mar 6, 2003 The figure is double the SFr839 million loss forecast by analysts. Switzerland’s largest life insurer said market uncertainty had hit its investments and resulted in one-off costs. Company figures were also affected by restructuring costs and heavy losses in the core insurance business and at the Banca del Gottardo private banking arm, Swiss Life said…

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Fresh water from the sea

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Swiss keep their hands firmly on the taps

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Swiss rivers allowed to flow freely

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Swiss resist attempts to tap into water market

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Is bottled water safer than tap water?

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Swiss push for EU tax concessions

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An ambivalent relationship with Switzerland

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Central bank slashes interest rates

More

Swiss looking to cut costs

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Swiss Life warns of record loss

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