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Rivella profits sink by a third

This content was published on Jul 4, 2000 At a news conference in Zurich, Rivella announced that sales in Switzerland went up by 11.7 per cent to 85 million litres, with an additional 16 million litres produced for foreign markets. However, the group said that it had not achieved its goal in Britain to establish Rivella on the market as a mass product.…

Booming Swiss film industry begs for more cash

This content was published on Jul 3, 2000 More films than ever are being made with the help of the federal office for culture, and the office now estimates its budget needs increasing by SFr4 million for 2001. The head of the office, David Streiff, said two of the three meetings planned for the second half of the year by the panel which…

French strike against SAir ends

This content was published on Jul 3, 2000 Flights were severely disrupted on Friday and Saturday. Air Littoral had to cancel all its flights, while Air Liberté managed to get just ten per cent of its planes off the ground. Air Outre-Mer was also severely affected. The action hit French passengers particularly badly since it was the first big weekend of the summer…

Lucerne targets tourists with new business venture

This content was published on Jul 3, 2000 A key aim of the new company is to attract individual tourists to Lucerne. At the moment, most of the city’s visitors come in organised groups or on business trips. The company hopes to be up and running at the latest at the beginning of next year. Luzern Tourismus AG is a joint venture between…

Swiss Re expands business interests in China

This content was published on Jul 3, 2000 The Zurich-based company has bought a minority stake in China Insurance International Holdings, which has just floated on the stock market. Swiss Re has acquired a 9.9 per cent stake in the company for SFr 25 million. CIIH’s parent company, China Insurance Group, is one of the four biggest insurance companies in China’s state run…

Ticino castles to get UNESCO heritage status

This content was published on Jul 3, 2000 A final decision will not be made until a UNESCO conference later this year in Cairns, Australia. But the president of the organisation’s Swiss committee, Francesca Gemnetti, has confirmed a newspaper report that the Bellinzona application had been unanimously approved by UNESCO’s heritage office at a meeting in Paris. Castelgrande and the Montebello and Sasso…

New political offensive against “McDonaldisation” of countryside

This content was published on Jul 3, 2000 The non-partisan foundation wants the federal parliament to adopt a new environmental strategy before it’s too late. It says existing regulations are inadequate and landscape protection should be given higher priority. The foundation’s director, Raimund Rodewald, says there is too much built-up land. “Too much territory is being lost to construction and the expansion of…

Trade union dissidents slam leadership

This content was published on Jul 2, 2000 Over 40 branch secretaries from the union have sent an open letter to the leadership, accusing it of being too closely tied to construction employers and middle class politicians. They say that the union has failed to stop job losses of 20 per cent in the industry. A long-standing salary conflict in the construction industry,…

Crans Montana Forum ends with gloomy prognosis

This content was published on Jul 2, 2000 During the closing session, the vice-president of the World Bank, Jean-François Rischard, said that in the next 20 years a demographic explosion and the impact of the new technologies would transform the world. But poverty will take on ever more gigantic proportions, he warned, as food and energy resources become scarce. He said that as…

This week in business

This content was published on Jul 1, 2000 Among the other top events this week:– Monday, the Swiss industrial sector recorded a 12 per cent increase in production over the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year, according to a report from the Federal Statistics Office.– Tuesday, the planned takeover of the semiconductor equipment company, Esec, by Unaxis…

Internal: Archive

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