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Switzerland tops Global Innovation Index

This content was published on Jun 30, 2011 The Global Innovation Index 2011, released on Thursday, evaluated 125 economies. Last year, Switzerland ranked fourth. The index recognises the key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity. Although Switzerland did not rank first in any of the individual criteria, its overall performance earned it first place. Contributing factors included the…

Chinese take over Swiss watchmaker

This content was published on Jun 30, 2011 Eterna, one of the few Swiss companies to manufacture mechanical watches, would be the second Chinese-owned Swiss watchmaker after Milus, according to business magazine Bilanz. The company, located in Grenchen in canton Solothurn, had turnover of SFr12 million ($14.4 million) last year and employs 70 workers, Bilanz said. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry…

One in three work injuries involves a foreigner

This content was published on Jun 30, 2011 The number of non-professional accidents remained stable at 497,000, down 0.3 per cent on 2009. Switzerland’s 35 accident insurers said Germans were the foreigners involved in the most accidents – 36,000 – ahead of Italians. For Germans, Italians and French living in Switzerland, 40 per cent of accidents occurred on the job. The figure for…

Papers highlight formidable Greek challenges

This content was published on Jun 30, 2011 Editors were torn on Thursday over who to put on their front pages: Roger Federer, who had just lost in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, or disgruntled Greeks bearing Molotov cocktails. The Basler Zeitung and the Berner Zeitung went with the former; most of the others, including the Zurich papers, went with the latter. “Greece averts debacle,”…

US rejects Swiss cancer drug

This content was published on Jun 30, 2011 The decision is a major setback for Roche, the Basel-based manufacturer of the world’s best-selling cancer medicine. Sales of the drug account for about $1 billion (SFr 833 million). Based on several years of follow-up trials, advisors to the US Food and Drug Administration agreed that Avastin was neither safe nor clinically beneficial. The FDA…

Trouble in tax paradise

This content was published on Jun 29, 2011 In recent decades Zug has managed to attract numerous multinational companies thanks to its low tax policy. The downside of the economic growth is rapidly increasing rents, which make it hard for middle class families to find affordable homes. (TSR/swissinfo.ch)

70 per cent of Swiss shop abroad

This content was published on Jun 29, 2011 This leads to an estimated loss in turnover for Swiss retailers of around SFr3.2 billion ($3.9 billion) said the study’s authors, retail consultants Fuhrer & Hotz. SFr2.5 million alone is spent on food in foreign shops, says Fuhrer & Hotz. The company not only looked at classic “shopping tourism” – nipping over the border for…

Company director salaries creep up in 2010

This content was published on Jun 29, 2011 CEOs and directors at the companies earned a total of SFr1.29 billion ($1.55 billion), a two per cent rise over 2009, according to an annual report on top pay by the Ethos Foundation. The average salary for company directors was SFr3.1 million and board chairmen were paid SFr2.4 million. Novartis president and former CEO Daniel…

Watchmakers cut staff despite sales increases

This content was published on Jun 28, 2011 The employers association for the Swiss watch industry said on Tuesday the number of employees working in the industry last year fell by 1.1 per cent to 48,548 people. Although an improvement on 2009, when staff levels declined by 7.9 per cent, the reduction occurred in a year when the industry rebounded strongly, reporting a…

Matt Allen on the strong franc

This content was published on Jun 28, 2011 Matt Allen on the strong franc (June 2011)

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Switzerland tops Global Innovation Index

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Chinese take over Swiss watchmaker

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One in three work injuries involves a foreigner

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Papers highlight formidable Greek challenges

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US rejects Swiss cancer drug

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Trouble in tax paradise

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70 per cent of Swiss shop abroad

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Company director salaries creep up in 2010

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Watchmakers cut staff despite sales increases

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Matt Allen on the strong franc

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