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Switzerland loses global competitive edge

This content was published on Sep 7, 2000 The United States has become the world’s most competitive nation while Switzerland has lost four places sliding to 10th position. The authors of the 333-page report said countries scored well if they were judged to be innovative and effective users of technology, had high rates of saving and investment, and were well integrated in the…

Switzerland at risk of major earthquake

This content was published on Sep 7, 2000 The experts, from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, issued the warning on Thursday. They said a major earthquake – on the scale of that which struck Basel in 1356, reaching the equivalent of 6.5 on the Richter scale – could be expected to strike the country every 100 years on average. They warned…

Aid agency warns against privatisation of water

This content was published on Sep 7, 2000 Launching the campaign in Berne on Thursday, the head of Helvetas, Werner Külling, said water could not be treated as just a commodity. He said 1,4 billion people were still without access to safe drinking water, and that illnesses affecting half of Africa’s population were directly related to a shortage of clean water. Külling said…

Publisuisse profits don’t tell whole story

This content was published on Sep 7, 2000 However, in a statement, the company said operating profit had declined to SFr37 million as a result of its Internet expansion strategy. The Lausanne-based group sold half its real estate holdings in January, which added a one-off SFr76 million to the financial result. It added that the second half of the year had begun well…

Unemployment continues to fall

This content was published on Sep 7, 2000 At the end of August, there were 63,708 people without a job, 1,432 fewer than at the end of July. The rate of unemployment remains unchanged at 1.8 per cent. The Secretariat reported that canton Geneva remains worst affected by joblessness (4.2 per cent), followed by cantons Vaud (2.8 per cent) and Ticino (2.7 per…

Holderbank to build on healthy profits

This content was published on Sep 7, 2000 In a statement on Thursday from its headquarters in Glarus, Holderbank said net sales went up by 17 per cent to SFr6.621 billion, lifted in part by the strength of the dollar. “The solid financial sales reflect not only higher sales but also efficiency improvements and, in some cases, better prices,” the company said. It…

Chimps get closer to humans on Basel stage

This content was published on Sep 7, 2000 The play was about a chimpanzee called Lisa, who grew up in an urban apartment with her minder, Sonia, and was part of a language experiment in which she was taught sign language. As Lisa grows into an adult chimp, she becomes more difficult to handle and is eventually sent to a camp in the…

Editorial on the votes

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 The people’s initiative calling for controls on immigration has prompted heated debate. The exasperation that many people, particularly women, feel about illegal immigration and abuses of the asylum law is now expressing itself as xenophobia. But a quota system won’t solve the problem. Moreover, Switzerland, with its humanitarian tradition, stands to lose a great deal.…

Energy issues at the ballot box

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 The Solar Initiative proposes a constitutional change to introduce a tax surcharge on non-renewable energy, such as nuclear power, gas and petroleum. It envisages a levy on energy bills of SFr0.01 rising to SFr0.05 per kilowatt hour within the first five years. This is expected to raise about SFr750 million annually over 25 years. The…

Red Cube goes west

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 “Under the terms of the transaction, Red Cube, will pay Winter Harbor $60 million in cash and $20 million in long-term Red Cube share options in return for its majority stake in I-Link,” Red Cube said in a statement on Wednesday. “With this transaction, Red Cube and I-Link together will be the market leaders in…

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