Internal: Archive

Moody’s downgrades Swiss Re

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 In a statement from London, Moody’s said that the decision was as much a reflection of company-specific factors as of powerful market forces affecting all industry participants. “The change in outlook reflects mounting evidence that market and shareholder pressures are driving Swiss Re to take a comparatively aggressive stance in capital management, acquisitions and business…

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International financial institutions fight their corner at social summit

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 “We are all on a very steep learning curve,” World Bank managing director Mamphela Ramphele told swissinfo. “No one agency is responsible for globalisation. Globalisation has been a marching force, which has forced all of us to rethink the world we live in.” “Development is a risky business. Anyone who thinks you can have development…

Basel confident on Roche environmental record

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 Under a new environmental cooperation agreement signed by both parties on Wednesday, the canton is released from absolute control while still retaining ultimate responsibility. The accord regulates what data Roche has to collect and hand over to the authorities, and at what intervals. “More and more firms are in a position to understand the effect…

Construction industry warns recovery must be backed by restructuring

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 The Alliance of Construction Industry Organisations, created by the three groups two years ago, said in Zurich on Wednesday that machinery purchases for the construction sector had increased sharply. Fritz Haldimann, president of the Swiss Construction Industry Group, one of the members of the alliance, said that over the first quarter of the year businesses…

Swiss power firms getting greener

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 They are launching a new label called Naturemade to be awarded to electricity companies producing eco-friendly power. The certificate is the concept of the Association for Environmentally Friendly Electricity, a loose alliance of electricity producers, consumers and environmental campaigners. It is a response to increased liberalisation in the international and domestic energy markets and fears…

Alpine glacier seeks World Heritage status

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 The head of the environment ministry, Moritz Leuenberger, will formally hand in the bid at the organisation’s headquarters in Paris. If successful, the Jungfraujoch region would join the likes of Mount Kilamanjaro and the United States’ Grand Canyon, United Nations officials could take up to one year to examine the request. The proposed region covers…

Chemical and machinery industry employees press for higher wages

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 At a news conference on Wednesday, they added that the drop in real wages in previous years and a rise in inflation of 1.5 to two per cent for this year, were further reasons for a significant increase. The unions said they would press for the practice of a general wage rise to be maintained,…

Manpower index highlights healthy Swiss economy

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 Manpower’s survey reports that job offers in the Swiss press rose in nine out of the 13 regions covered by the index. It also said the domestic employment market is tightening even more as the gap between job offers and those actively seeking work is narrowing. The best performance was seen in canton Schaffhausen (…

Government ponders what to do with spare gold

This content was published on Jun 28, 2000 A further 500 tonnes have already been earmarked for the Solidarity Foundation, which, subject to acceptance by the people in a referendum, will finance charitable projects at home and abroad. The government is proposing two variants for the 800 tonnes. The first, and it is clearly the cabinet’s favourite, is to finance a programme of…

Social benefits can beat poverty

This content was published on Jun 27, 2000 Central to the report and summit is the belief that social justice and equality must run parallel with globalisation. The report found that Switzerland’s old age pension scheme and social benefits are very effective in combating poverty amongst the elderly. The study also said that state benefits, which account for one third of revenue for…

Internal: Archive

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