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Swiss confirm their image as busy bees

This content was published on Mar 29, 2007 The Federal Statistics Office said people worked 42 hours and 20 minutes a week on average. In all, 7.004 billion of hours were recorded in 2005. That’s up 0.4 per cent on the previous year. In the same period absences increased by 1.9 per cent and overtime remained fairly stable with a fall of 0.1…

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This content was published on Mar 29, 2007

Swiss promote trade accord with India

This content was published on Mar 28, 2007 The state secretary in the Swiss economics ministry, Jean-Daniel Gerber, said such an agreement would provide a further boost to bilateral trade and investment. He was speaking on Wednesday at The Forum for International Business organised by the country’s main trade promotion organisation, Osec – Business Network Switzerland. The idea of such an accord has…

Victory not interested in easy killing

This content was published on Mar 28, 2007 Victory generated waves of negative press during the protracted and emotional buyout in 2005 of technology company Oerlikon, then named Unaxis, followed by car parts maker Saurer last year. The acquisitions have prompted calls to reform company takeover laws in Switzerland which would force buyers to disclose their identity earlier than they are obliged at…

Oerlikon records its best result in years

This content was published on Mar 27, 2007 The takeover of engineering company Saurer and an ongoing restructuring programme boosted results at the company, which made a net profit of SFr21 million in 2005. “Overall we are optimistic that we will be able to continue to achieve above-average growth in our markets and to realise profit margins above the average through the efficient…

Swiss Life posts record profit in 2006

This content was published on Mar 27, 2007 The company said the “good result” was largely driven by a 23 per cent rise in operations to SFr1.258 billion. Gross written premiums rose by nine per cent, exceeding market expectations, to SFr22.1 billion, while operating expenses decreased by five per cent to SFr3.2 billion. “Our strategic and operational progress is clearly reflected in the…

Swiss log on to online shopping boom

This content was published on Mar 26, 2007 A study by St Gallen University’s Institute of Marketing and Retailing, published on Monday, showed for example that 40 per cent of the country’s five million internet users now buy flights online. “There are still concerns about using credit cards and security is still a problem, but this is decreasing,” Thomas Rudolph, director of the…

Blimp will be a fish out of water

This content was published on Mar 26, 2007 A blimp – a small airship – that moves through the air like a fish in water could be the successor to the Zeppelin, providing a quiet and energy-efficient means of transport. More than a decade ago, film director Emir Kusturica imagined a fish floating through his movie Arizona Dream. Today, his flight of fancy…

Post group puts its stamp on a solid year

This content was published on Mar 23, 2007 The company, which is owned by the state, said on Friday that all business areas and units had contributed to the positive result, despite dwindling volumes of letters. The 2006 profit represents a 3.2 per cent increase or SFr26 million on the previous year. Operating income was SFr7.895 billion, an increase of five per cent…

Switzerland faces racism allegations

This content was published on Mar 22, 2007 The Senegalese UN envoy’s full report on racism in Switzerland will be presented at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday. Six months ago Diène provoked often hostile reactions after reiterating criticism of Switzerland for what he said were discriminatory tendencies. He further maintained that racism had become an instrument in political debate. Diène…

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