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Swiss seek to attract Chinese investors

This content was published on Dec 15, 2004 The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) has teamed up with 14 cantons to launch a joint programme aimed at promoting Switzerland as a major investment location for Chinese businessmen in Europe. It says the programme – which has an initial promotional budget of SFr250,000 ($219,000) – is intended to be a “trailblazer” for future…

Celebrating Christmas in faraway lands

This content was published on Dec 15, 2004 Three Swiss expats tell swissinfo how they will be spending the Christmas period a long way from home. More than 600,000 Swiss nationals live abroad, both near and far. Many have been away for decades and some no longer speak a Swiss language. Absent friends include 150 Swiss who are employed by the Swiss Agency…

Swiss announces pay freeze for ground staff

This content was published on Dec 15, 2004 The airline’s 2,000 ground staff had been calling for a six per cent increase to compensate for higher living costs. “The unions demanded that employee purchasing power be retained. Swiss will not consider this demand for economic reasons,” said the carrier in a short statement on Wednesday. Swiss said salary negotiations involving the company and…

Rapping chef waxes lyrical in New York

This content was published on Dec 15, 2004 Adam was in New York to promote the “young and innovative” side of Swiss cuisine – and offer locals a taste of his Eminem-style approach to cooking. At a banquet thrown by Swiss tourism chiefs at a trendy Manhattan hotel, Adam performed his single, “Birchermuesli”, in front of an audience of 200 hungry diners. Donning…

Swiss innovation agency targets 100th firm

This content was published on Dec 15, 2004 It has welcomed its 100th firm, Basel-based biotech start-up 4-Antibody, into its portfolio of high-tech ventures. CTI Start-up announced the milestone this week. Its latest label winner, 4-Antibody, is a biotechnology firm with a unique way to discover antibodies that could be used to treat a number of killer diseases. CTI Start-up emerges from the…

Nescafé tops survey of Swiss brands

This content was published on Dec 15, 2004 Other popular brands on the domestic market, including the retailer, Migros, fared less well because they are little known abroad. With an estimated value of SFr14.8 billion ($12.9 billion), the Nescafé brand left banks, pharmaceutical companies and watchmakers trailing in its wake. Nescafé, which is produced by Swiss food multinational Nestlé, ranked ahead of the…

Swiss car sector set to step up a gear

This content was published on Dec 14, 2004 A study by Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) singled out Saia Burgess, Komax and Georg Fischer as those most likely to enjoy success. Although Switzerland does not have its own automobile industry, many foreign manufacturers use Swiss-made components in their cars. The CSFB study, published on Tuesday, found that the main advantage for Swiss firms…

Swiss divided over congestion charge

This content was published on Dec 14, 2004 In panel discussions set up by the Centre for Technology Assessment (TA-Swiss), the public agreed that traffic needed to be regulated, but opinions differed on whether and how charges should be levied. TA-Swiss said on Tuesday that six panel discussions in Zurich, Bern and Geneva earlier this year showed that those living in inner city…

Switzerland tops longevity league in Europe

This content was published on Dec 14, 2004 Researchers at Lausanne University said the country had the highest life expectancy in Europe. Proportionally, Switzerland is thought to be second only to Japan in terms of the number of people who have reached 100. According to the study conducted by the Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, about 40 out of every 10,000 people…

Swiss axes another labour agreement

This content was published on Dec 14, 2004 The announcement comes three months after the carrier delivered the same message to 2,000 ground staff. Swiss said it would enter into negotiations on new collective labour agreements at the beginning of 2005. In a short press release, the airline said it would “strive, together with its social partners, to find viable forward-looking solutions which…

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