Switzerland Why locate business in Switzerland? Investment Promotion Agency: Lucerne Berne Basel Solothurn Zurich Geneva Neuchatel Ticino St. Gallen

 

Switzerland

Switzerland is at the heart of Europe, at the center of the great technological area that stretches from South Germany to North Italy and Lyon in France; and at the intersection of the two major European economic axes that run between London and Milan, and Barcelona and Munich.

 

Excellent road, rail and air links to the whole of Europe make Switzerland an important center for international business contacts. None of the most important European cities is more than two flying hours away.

 

As well as speaking French, Italian and German, a large proportion of the population can communicate also in English, which is often used as a business language.

 

The high technological standard of the Swiss economy is reflected in the 2.7 per cent of gross domestic product applied to research and development, a figure that is comparable with that of the United States.

 

Companies who have made the decision to locate in Switzerland include Baxter Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Philip Morris, PSINet, Silicon Graphics, Sony, Coutts & Co, IBM, SAP, CTL Horlogerie., Mattel, Glaxo Wellcome and DeTeWe Telecom. In total there are over 635 North American companies in the country.

 

Switzerland's vocational training system is geared to the needs of trade and industry. A significant majority of young people complete an apprenticeship; in addition, Switzerland offers a board network of excellent advanced colleges and universities. Switzerland also holds a top position internationally with regard to public spending on education and training.

 

 

Why locate business in Switzerland?

 

Tech companies are increasingly moving their European Headquarters to Switzerland due to tax breaks.  For example, Yahoo!  recenly moved from the UK to Geneva, Switzerland due to tax breaks offered.  Also, other companies doing the same are :  EA, and Cisco Systems

 

 

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mario Brossi

Location Switzerland

633 Third Avenue

30th Floor

New York City

10117

USA

 

 

tel: +1 212 599 5700 ext 1023

fax: +1 212 286 1559

 

 

Lucerne

Lucerne is located in the central part of Switzerland. Travel to the other Swiss cities of Zurich, Basel and Bern takes less than one hour.

The economy of Lucerne is focused on certain sectors including aerospace, medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. The local administration works to create a trading environment which fits well with existing investors including Computerized Medical Systems Inc, Merck, Amgen, Braun Medical, Takeda and Estee Lauder.

The Lucerne workforce is multi-lingual and highly skilled. The mother tongue in the region is German, but English is used in most commercial settings. The supply of labour comes from the Universities in Zurich, Bern and Basel and from the Technical Academy Esslingen which concentrates on training medical technicians and has a branch in the region.

 

 

Berne

Berne is situated in the central part of Switzerland and is the capital city of the country. It has a population of around one million people who speak French, German and English.

Travel to European locations is by the European high-speed railway network and the local international airport.

 

The city encourages investment in six main areas; medical technologies, microtechnologies (mainly from the watchmaking industry), telematics, the design and luxury industry, environmental technologies and financing & services. Public initiatives which have been set up to promote these sectors include the Telematics Cluster Berne (TCB) and Medical Cluster Berne (MCB.)

 

The Berne University of Technology and the University of Business & Management provide the skilled graduates for the citys’ investors.

 

Companies located in the region include the medical companies Asklia, SmithKline Beecham and Novartis and technology companies such as EDS, Teletext and Solomon Software.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Denis R. Grisel

Berne Economic Development Agency

Munsterplatz 3

Bern

CH 3001

Switzerland

 

 

tel: +41 31 633 41 20

fax: +41 31 633 40 88

 

 

 

Basel

Basel is located in the North of Switzerland at the point where Germany, France and Switzerland meet. The international airport at Basel offers daily connections to European cities and the intercontinental airport at Zurich is a one hour drive away.

 

The major industrial focus in Basel is in chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology activities. This is supported by the presence of the head quarter operations of Novartis, Roche, Clariant and Ciba SC. These companies often pull on the resources of the University of Basel with its natural science institutes and large medical faculty.

 

To support the continued growth of the sector, a number of initiatives have been launched in the city, such as the Biotech Platform Basel and the Upper Rhine Biovalley initiative, which includes Freiburg (Germany) and Strasbourg (France) acting to assist the 300 biotech companies operating across the Valley area.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Mr Werner Resch

Basel Area Business Development

Wallstrasse 1

Basel

4010

Switzerland

 

 

tel: +41 (0) 61 295 50 00

fax: +41 (0) 61 295 50 09

 

 

 

Solothurn

Solothurn is one of the Swiss cantons or states. It is located within an hour from Zurich, Basel and Bern, with the closest international airports at Geneva and Zurich. The population is german-speaking, but has had a long history of French influence.

 

The major sectors in the state are computers, microelectronics, precision mechanics, synthetic materials, watch making and logistics.

The first Swatch watch was designed and produced in Solothurn and the state has continued to maintain its high levels of innovation and ingenuity.

 

 

Zurich

The City of Zurich is located in Switzerland; a central location allowing access to Europe’s major commercial hubs via road, rail or Zurich airport.

 

Zurich is highly regarded as a leading financial and scientific city.

Internationally renowned research centers, for example, the IBM research laboratory in Zurich/Rüschlikon, have been attracted to the city by its two universities. The level of skill in the academic base is reflected in the fact Zurich probably has the largest number of Nobel Prize Winners in the world.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Greater Zurich Area

Limmatquai 112

8001 Zurich

Switzerland

 

 

tel: +41 1 254 59 59

fax: +41 1 254 59 54

 

 

 

Geneva

Geneva, located in Switzerland has become a powerhouse for attracting major technology companies into its borders. The city has an international airport giving access to most major European centers within an hour. There are over 200 rail services per day passing through Geneva to France, Italy, Spain and Germany.

 

This logistical location is one reason why Geneva’s high-growth markets in information technologies, telecommunications, electronics and high-tech healthcare are prospering. IBM has established its European microelectronics headquarters in the city and is joined by other major multinationals such as Sun Microsystems, Oracle Software, Hewlett-Packard and Dell Computers.

Geneva is also home to major research institutes such as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University Hospitals and Clinics.

 

 

Neuchatel

Neuchâtel is a Swiss canton (federal state) in the center of Switzerland located one hour from Geneva and one and a half hours from Zurich. These cities are accessible by a road expressway and rail services. There are two local airports at Colombier and La Chaux-de-Fonds. The population of Neuchatel is around 170,000 people.

 

Target sectors in the state are microtechnology (electronics, robotics, telecommunications and medical technology), biotechnology and cosmetics, luxury products and service activities. Neuchâtel is seen as the center of the watch making industry in Switzerland with a company base including Ebel, Tag Heuer, Tissot and Zenith.

 

Other companies located in the area include SGI (Silicon Graphics), Autodesk, Baxter, Johnson & Johnson, Quark, Mary Kay, Quantum or PSI-Net and also Reed Elsevier, Bulgari, Gucci and Ares Serono.

 

The state has a strong academic environment in particular in the field of microtechnology. Neuchatel University and the Swiss Center of Electronics and Microtechnology train the workforce of the future. An engineering school is available for students of mechanical engineering and electronics and a number of vocational training centers teach students in the watchmaking, electronics and precision engineering fields. There are also a number of Business Schools in the region.

 

Investment Promotion Agency:

 

Pierre Comte

Economic Promotion Canton of Neuchatel

Collegiale 3

Neuchatel

2001

Switzerland

 

 

tel: +41 (0) 32 889 6823

fax: +41 (0) 32 889 62 95

 

 

 

Ticino

The canton (state) of Ticino is in Switzerland, situated halfway between North Italy and South Germany. An airport at Lugano-Agno offers daily flights to all major European destinations and the international airport at Milan is within a few miles of the border. Ticino is the only Italian speaking Canton within the Swiss Confederation.

 

Companies who have invested in the region include Intervalves, Consitex, Helsinn Chemicals and The Fantastic Corporation, a leader in broadband media and software.

 

The University of the Italian Canton of Switzerland offers courses in architecture, economy and communications sciences and companies can also benefit from The Swiss Center for Scientific Computers (CSCS), and the Center for Computer Integrated Manufacturing which are located in the state.

 

 

St. Gallen

St. Gallen is located at the most northeastern part of Switzerland and is located on the north-south and east-west European rail and road axis. Zurich Airport is nearby which makes it possible to reach other European destinations within three hours and the regional St. Gallen-Altenrhein airport has daily connections to Vienna.

 

230,000 people employed in the commercial and industrial sectors offer a cross-border labour market with a highly qualified and internationally oriented workforce. This is due to the excellent education received from the University of St. Gallen, the most important economic university in Europe and the polytechnical and business schools in the region.