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German retailer gobbles up Swiss food group

This content was published on Jun 11, 2003 The move comes several months after Carrefour, another European distribution giant, launched its own assault on the Swiss market. Bon Appetit is the third-largest retailer of food and household goods in Switzerland and has a workforce of about 5,000. Its businesses include catering supplies and food franchise outlets. Rewe, which is based in Cologne, bought…

Mbeki visit highlights burgeoning trade ties

This content was published on Jun 10, 2003 Switzerland has become an important trade partner for South Africa, investing SFr777 million ($590 million) since 1994, but has still to shake off the controversy over apartheid-era links. Nine Swiss companies – including the banks UBS and Credit Suisse, as well as Novartis and Nestlé – are among a group of international firms targeted by…

Swiss shipping company stands accused

This content was published on Jun 10, 2003 They accuse the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) of sending vessels contaminated with toxic materials to developing countries. The protesters called on the Geneva-based firm to sign an agreement promising to clean up all its ships before sending them to be scrapped. “Every year about 700 toxic ships are being scrapped in the scrapyards of Asia,…

Petrol consumption set to meet targets

This content was published on Jun 10, 2003 The car industry says it is well on track to meet the target of 6.4 litres per 100km agreed between the government and car importers for 2008. “At 8.1 litres, we have more or less reached our target for last year,” Hans-Peter Schick, director of the Swiss car importers association told swissinfo, referring to the…

Banks’ green pledge earns mixed response

This content was published on Jun 10, 2003 However, they fear the so-called “Equator Principles”, which apply to the funding of future development projects, may never be put into practice. Caroline Morel, executive director of the Bern-based non-governmental organisation, Swissaid, conceded that the guidelines were a step in the right direction. But she cast doubt on whether they were as big a breakthrough…

Supply chain automation is a giant opportunity for Swiss RFID sector

This content was published on Jun 10, 2003 Companies as diverse as Infineon, Volkswagen and Manor AG are now using RFID for improving supply chain automation. Intellion AG is a spin off of the University of St Gallen and MLab, the Swiss research institute that sets standards for RFID along with MIT. It was founded to deal specifically with the demand for RFID’s…

Swiss astronaut looks back on star-studded career

This content was published on Jun 10, 2003 To mark the occasion, swissinfo interviewed Swiss space veteran and ESA member, Claude Nicollier, about life as an astronaut, his space walk and his fascination for space. Nicollier – Switzerland’s only astronaut – has taken part in four space flights and has logged more than 1,000 hours in space, including an eight-hour long space walk…

Floral paradise blossoms on Brissago islands

This content was published on Jun 10, 2003 The two islands are home to the country’s most southerly botanical gardens with 1,600 different plant species from five continents. They benefit from ideal growing conditions, thanks to a Mediterranean microclimate which prevails over Lake Maggiore. “The Alps to the north protect the islands from cold northern air,” head gardener Fiorenzo Risi says. “And so…

Leica Geosystems sizes up Madame Liberty

This content was published on Jun 9, 2003 Leica Geosystems has provided laser scanners and sophisticated software to provide historic documentation of the Statue of Liberty. The finished result will be complete architectural drawings of the New York statue’s exterior, accurate to ¼ inch. The scaled drawings will be used to monitor and maintain the statue and could be used to reconstruct an…

Nicollier defends the International Space Station

This content was published on Jun 8, 2003 They claim it is well over budget and behind schedule and would be better off being scrapped entirely. It was conceived as a an international project, led by the United States and includes Russia, the European Space Agency (ESA) – of which Switzerland is a member – Canada, Brazil and Japan. Its purpose is to…

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