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Swiss increase their taste for chocolate

This content was published on Feb 15, 2000 Switzerland’s chocolate industry has had a bitter-sweet year, according to results just published by the industry’s professional association of factories, Chocosuisse. Domestic demand has grown but foreign sales dropped. Sales from the country’s 15 chocolate factories totalled just over 130 thousand tonnes in 1999, almost the same as for the previous year. Turnover rose by…

Avalanche warning systems held under magnifying glass

This content was published on Feb 15, 2000 A new study looks at avalanche warning systems in Switzerland, exactly one year after a devastating series of natural disasters. The study concludes that notwithstanding the fatalities and huge material damage, Switzerland was better prepared than ever before. The study was carried out by the Federal Snow and Avalanche Research Institute in Davos. It is…

Switzerland places well in survey of bankruptcies

This content was published on Feb 15, 2000 The number of bankruptcies in Switzerland fell by four per cent last year, according to a new survey. It places Switzerland in mid-table in comparison to other European countries. A total of 8,500 companies went bankrupt in Switzerland in 1999, the lowest annual figure since 1991, and another sign the economy is moving out of…

Nicollier returns from mission control

This content was published on Feb 14, 2000 Switzerland is celebrating the achievements of the astronaut, Claude Nicollier, who made history last December by becoming the first European to do a spacewalk. Nicollier and his fellow astronauts are on a tour of Switzerland to talk about their mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. If Nicollier’s reception by the Swiss government was any…

Price regulator fires warning shot at Microsoft

This content was published on Feb 14, 2000 Switzerland’s price regulator is investigating pricing practices by the United States software group, Microsoft, following complaints by consumer groups that prices in Europe are higher than in the US. A statement from the price regulator, Werner Marti, said that the Windows 98 operating system and the Office 97 Professional productivity software suite showed there were…

Row erupts over liberalisation of energy market

This content was published on Feb 14, 2000 The president of the Competition Commission, Professor Roland von Büren, has raised a few political hackles following his comments on the speedy liberalisation of Switzerland’s energy market. Von Büren told a news conference that if Switzerland did not open its electricity market within what he called a suitable period of time, he would invoke the…

Swiss criticise UN trade summit

This content was published on Feb 14, 2000 The 10th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has seen plenty of high hopes but few concrete measures, according to the head of Switzerland’s delegation, David Syz (pictured). However, he says, the conference has shown that there is a general willingness to solve current tensions over globalisation. The conference began in Bangkok on Saturday…

Nicollier and fellow astronauts pay flying visit to Berne

This content was published on Feb 14, 2000 The government has been celebrating the achievements of one of Switzerland’s high-flyers. Claude Nicollier (pictured front left) and six fellow astronauts were received in Berne by the economics minister, Pascal Couchepin, and the interior minister, Ruth Dreifuss. The six blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard the space shuttle Discovery last December for a vital mission.…

Marilyn Monroe shoe fans feel the pinch

This content was published on Feb 14, 2000 A Zurich couple who hit the headlines after buying a pair of high-heel shoes which belonged to the film star, Marilyn Monroe, have run into trouble with Swiss customs officials. Daniel Amberg and Esther Kreis have been fined SFr3,300 and ordered to pay SFr4,000 in Value Added Tax after failing to declare the shoes when…

Savings customers fail to benefit from rate rises

This content was published on Feb 14, 2000 Interest rates in Switzerland are rising, but Swiss banks have so far failed to pass on the benefits to people with savings accounts. Although the Swiss National Bank has more than doubled its base rate since August 1999, rates for savers have yet to follow suit. Interest rates for savers with traditional accounts currently vary…

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Internal: Archive

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Swiss increase their taste for chocolate

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Avalanche warning systems held under magnifying glass

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Switzerland places well in survey of bankruptcies

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Nicollier returns from mission control

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Price regulator fires warning shot at Microsoft

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Row erupts over liberalisation of energy market

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Swiss criticise UN trade summit

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Nicollier and fellow astronauts pay flying visit to Berne

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Marilyn Monroe shoe fans feel the pinch

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Savings customers fail to benefit from rate rises

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