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WEF draws world leaders to Davos

This content was published on Jan 13, 2004 The theme for this year’s meeting is “Partnering for Security and Prosperity”. More than 2,100 business and political leaders from 94 countries are expected to gather in the Swiss resort from January 21 to 25. Unveiling the guest list at WEF headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday, executive chairman and founder, Klaus Schwab, urged world leaders…

ABB clinches Oil Gas Petrochemicals sale

This content was published on Jan 13, 2004 ABB said the US investment bank JP Morgan and the British firms 3i Group and Candover had bought the unit for $925 million (SFr1.17 billion). The deal does not include the OGP’s asbestos-plagued Lummus Global unit. ABB expects to sell this part of the business some time this year. A preliminary agreement had been announced…

Looser laws leave patrons spoilt for choice

This content was published on Jan 12, 2004 Industry representatives want to sort out the world of wining and dining by improving standards and making it more difficult for individuals to open new restaurants. “The sector is in the middle of a crisis,” said Jean-Luc Piguet of the Geneva Society of Café Owners, Restaurateurs and Hoteliers. “Too many restaurants and cafés are being…

Adecco profile

This content was published on Jan 12, 2004 The company, which employs 28,000 people in 68 countries, was formed in 1996 from the merger of French firm ECCO and Switzerland’s Adia. Adecco, which specialises in providing temporary workers, says it has 250,000 clients and places 650,000 people in short-term work every day. Staffing is the largest of the group’s four divisions and accounts…

Adecco strikes fear into European markets

This content was published on Jan 12, 2004 News that Adecco had found accounting irregularities sent European stock markets sliding. Within seconds of the announcement, around SFr7 billion ($5.7 billion) was wiped off the company’s value as investors rushed to sell their shares. “Investors are rightly saying that they want to keep very clear of the shares until they become more sure about…

Social development

This content was published on Jan 12, 2004 Land privatisation in the 1990s turned Kyrgyzstan’s collective farm workers into independent farmers. However, disputes over land and a lack of agricultural knowledge have made life difficult. The Soviet system ensured a high standard of health care for ordinary people. But the system deteriorated after independence and hospitals slid into disrepair. People living on the…

Economic transition

This content was published on Jan 12, 2004 After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asia’s republics lost their economic lifeline to Russia. Kyrgyzstan has adopted an open market, while the governments of neighbouring countries such as Uzbekistan continue to run centrally-controlled economies. New businesses complain of having to cope with lingering Soviet-era mentalities as well as a pervasive culture of corruption.…

Helvetistan

This content was published on Jan 12, 2004 Switzerland has been engaged in Central Asia since the region’s republics gained independence in 1991. In 1992 Switzerland formed a voting block at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The group includes Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan and is known as “Helvetistan”. The Swiss government’s…

Economic transition

This content was published on Jan 12, 2004

Scientists say extreme weather is here to stay

This content was published on Jan 12, 2004 Meteorologists said the high winds buffeting Switzerland and parts of Europe on Monday were not linked to the same phenomena. Last summer’s record temperatures were considered by many scientists to be further evidence of global warming. A Swiss study – published in the science journal “Nature” – points to similar extreme weather patterns becoming more…

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