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Watchmakers boost numbers

This content was published on Jun 25, 2008 The employers organisation said 48,835 people worked in the watchmaking sector, up 4,391 on 2006, and the number of companies rose by more than five per cent to 627 firms, mainly in the northwestern Jura region. The watchmaking industry has repeatedly complained about a lack of trained personnel in the past few years. The sector,…

SMEs embrace “knowledge society”

This content was published on Jun 24, 2008 Economists at Switzerland’s second-largest bank surveyed nearly 1,600 SMEs about their views on selected important trends, general shifts in thinking and approaches affecting countries, industries and organisations. The main focus of this year’s survey, Opportunities and Risks for SMEs, was the “knowledge society”, where knowledge is the primary production resource instead of capital and labour.…

UBS acquires Dutch wealth manager

This content was published on Jun 24, 2008 The closing of the transaction remained subject to regulatory approval, the company said. Financial details were not disclosed. VermogensGroep manages client assets of approximately €4 billion (SFr6.49 billion), with an additional €10 billion assets under administration. It specialises in serving ultra-high net worth private clients, foundations and institutions. VermogensGroep employs 38 people in Amsterdam. UBS…

Novartis enters five-year tuberculosis deal

This content was published on Jun 24, 2008 The Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases – a Singapore-based research centre managed by the Basel-based pharmaceutical firm – on Tuesday said the partnership would work to develop new tuberculosis (TB) medicines, including for drug-resistant strains of the virus. “While the global TB crisis shows no signs of abating, new treatments that are easier for patients…

Concern raised over popular biofuel option

This content was published on Jun 24, 2008 But as demand has grown over the past two years, concerns have been raised over how environmentally friendly it really is. Since being introduced in 2006 in the town of Winterthur, the Swiss bioethanol product has become available in 38 petrol stations around the country, GI-BioE, the group representing distribution and promotion of the fuel…

Solar-powered aircraft sets endurance record

This content was published on Jun 23, 2008 The 2.6-kilogram autonomously controlled Sky-Sailor flew more than 27 hours to complete the 874.4 kilometre journey at an altitude of between 200 and 400 metres. It was not the first aircraft of its kind to fly more than 24 hours, researchers said, but was the first to do so without using thermal winds or altitude…

How the Swiss watch their language

This content was published on Jun 23, 2008 But despite its name, it is a work of immense scholarship. The title derives from the Greek word for “peculiar”: the Idiotikon is a comprehensive dictionary of spoken and written German in the form peculiar to Switzerland. Switzerland has four national languages – German, French, Italian and Romansh – each of which has its own…

Domestic slowdown expected until mid-2009

This content was published on Jun 23, 2008 Gross domestic product (GDP) for Switzerland was expected to grow by 1.9 per cent this year and by 1.3 per cent in 2009, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). The economy grew by 3.1 per cent in 2007. “The cooling of the economy, which started at the beginning of the year will…

Unions sound alarm over widening wage gap

This content was published on Jun 23, 2008 Top management pay rises were between ten and 20 per cent last year, said Travail Suisse on Monday. The gap between management wages and the minimum wage paid grew in 26 of the 28 companies examined. The data are based on a regular survey of 24 publicly listed companies, the country’s two leading retailers as…

Ice cores reveal abrupt climate change

This content was published on Jun 20, 2008 Studying data from Greenland ice cores, the researchers said the information could prove groundbreaking for forecasting sudden changes to the climate in future. The researchers – using a Swiss-developed system – looked at the ice year for year over a 3,000 year period, according to a report in the journal Science published on Friday. The…

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Watchmakers boost numbers

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SMEs embrace “knowledge society”

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UBS acquires Dutch wealth manager

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Novartis enters five-year tuberculosis deal

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Concern raised over popular biofuel option

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Solar-powered aircraft sets endurance record

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How the Swiss watch their language

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Domestic slowdown expected until mid-2009

More

Unions sound alarm over widening wage gap

More

Ice cores reveal abrupt climate change

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