wat r the important industries in switzerland?

Answer 1

Switzerland sees growth in research spending and sales as a biotech location
Zurich, 31 March 2006 - The Swiss biotech industry employs around 14,000 people and has the highest “biotech density” per capita in the world with 138 biotech companies plus 91 suppliers. That is why Ernst & Young, SWX Swiss Exchange, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Swiss Innovation Promotion Agency (KTI/CTI), the Swiss Federal Institute for Intellectual Property, Swiss Biotech, the marketing organization for the Swiss biotech industry as well as the Swiss Private Equity and Corporate Finance Organization (SECA) is already publishing the third edition of the Swiss Biotech Report, which has become an important instrument for promoting Switzerland as a biotech location.
The Swiss biotech industry is becoming more important and amongst international investors Switzerland is now seen as a more attractive location – that’s the outcome of the “Swiss Biotech Report”, the third edition of which has now already been published. At a press conference in Zurich the project partners from industry and government gave a presentation of the latest developments and figures. Domenico Alexakis, CEO of the “Swiss Biotech Association”, the sector organization, stated: “The biotech industry in Switzerland today has become established and is launching key initiatives aimed at the coordination of research and training. As such, for example, the BiotechNet network of experts at the institutes of applied sciences continually provides new impetuses at the interface with industry. In addition, the government’s Knowledge and Technology Transfer Initiative (KTT Initiative) is important for the biotech SMEs because it strengthens the industry’s innovative capability.” In the opinion of Alexakis, the organization has also proven successful in a variety of ways: “Today, we are able to provide member companies with very strong support in the search for specialists and access to technical literature as well as provide know-how on the regulatory systems in Switzerland and the EU.”

Twelve new companies – significant growth in research and sales
Jürg Zürcher, Partner and Industry Leader Biotech at Ernst & Young, presented the first figures on the development of the Swiss biotech scene in 2005. This year an additional 12 biotech companies have been established, whilst two firms went into liquidation. Switzerland now has 229 biotech companies, 91 of which are suppliers (this figure does not include branches of foreign companies or the biotech activities of major pharmaceutical and agrochemical companies). In size terms, 9 of our listed companies rank amongst the globally active “players”, with an additional approx. 20 mid-cap companies employing 50–100 personnel. All the other companies have fewer than 50 employees – significantly fewer in most cases. 88% of the companies are engaged in “red” biotechnology (human and animal medicine), 8% in the area of environmental protection and industry and just 6% in the agricultural and feedstuffs sector.

The number of employees has risen to 14,400 (+ 6.4% compared with 2004) and there has been significant growth in sales which reached a total of CHF 5,961 million as against CHF 5,473 million in the previous year (+ 8.9%). Investment in research and development by private and listed companies together totaled CHF 1,533 million (in the previous year: CHF 1,388 million, + 10.4%). In this sense the negative growth in profits represents an exception since it is the result of the fine in the sum of USD 725 million which was imposed on the firm of Serono during the course of 2005. Excluding this one-off effect the Swiss biotech sector would also have posted profits at a similar level to those in the previous year.

Switzerland as an attractive financial location
The lively activity amongst investors and the attraction of Switzerland as a biotech center is also reflected in the equities market of the SWX Swiss Exchange. The combined market capitalization of the biotech firms listed on the SWX totaled EUR 5.9 billion. (as at 14.3.2006) and consequently form one of the most important peer groups in Europe. With last year’s performance of approx. 38% the SXI Bio+Medtech® clearly exceeded the Swiss Performance Index SPI®. The market sentiment towards the biotech sector is therefore extremely friendly, something which is also reflected in the numerous IPOs and increases in equity capital. As such, in this sector over the last two years Basilea, Speedel and Arpida have ranked amongst the largest IPOs throughout Europe in terms of their transaction volume or market capitalization. The high level of attention enjoyed by the listed biotech firms amongst investors is rounded off by the extensive interest shown on the part of analysts and the media. As a result of this popularity it therefore comes as no surprise to see that significant amounts are being invested in the sector not just on the stock exchange but also on the part of private equity companies.

Innovation-orientated approach and excellent collaboration with research
Prof. Dr Oreste Ghisalba, Head of Biotech at the KTI/CTI, the Swiss Innovation Promotion Agency, pointed out that according to a survey by the OECD, research publications rank Switzerland in second place worldwide in the life sciences area. Through its financing the Swiss Innovation Promotion Agency brings together university, institute of applied sciences and the practical world and poured investments totaling CHF 7.09 million into the biotech sector in 2005. For its part, the industry has invested CHF 10.8 million in these projects. Since 1996 the KTI/CTI has been attaching special importance to start-up companies and also offering them intensive coaching. Up to the end of 2005 over 1,000 such companies have received support, with 37% of these originating from the biotech life sciences sector. “KTI start-up companies and SMEs supported by the KTI are appearing in the public eye time and again as winners of prestigious corporate awards” says Ghisalba with satisfaction. “Swiss biotech SMEs can be seen as classic examples of an innovation-orientated approach and, thanks to their high level of customer focus, their suppliers have proven to form an important basis for this success” stated Ghisalba, setting an optimistic tone.

Answer 2

Major Industries Of Switzerland

Answer 3

to be more precise and pretty short
- Banks: UBS and Crédit Suisse (Zurich)
- Pharma: Novartis and Roche (Basel)
- Biotech: Serono (Geneva), there are a lot more but the most of them are very small companies
- Watches: Audemars Piquet, Blancpain, Ebel, Girard Perregaux, Patek Philippe, Rolex ..... only to name the superior top brands. there is a bunch of watches factories and most of them are located in the french part of Switzerland.
- Electrotechnic: ABB (Zurich/Baden) a global leader in power and automation technologies (the former BBC before merger with ABB Sweden)
- Food: Nestlé (Vevey) worldwide the biggest food and beverage company
- Chocolate: Lindt & Sprüngli (Zurich) some say it's the world leader (that chocolate is as expensive as it tastes - extremely)
sorry to all others i didn't mention, but that list would become too long.
http://www.spruengli.ch/#
visit the Onlineshop ;-)

Answer 4

Hey,

Instead of answering u in two words..let me discribe in whole what ur question all to be.

Manufacturing industries, although declining in importance, still contributed 34% of GDP (including construction). The industrial growth rate in 2001 was 3.2%. Swiss industries are chiefly engaged in the manufacture, from imported raw materials, of highly finished goods for domestic consumption and for export. Most of the industrial enterprises are located in the plains and the Swiss plateau, especially in the cantons of Zürich, Bern, Aargau, St. Gallen, Solothurn, Vaud, Basel (Baselstadt and Baselland), and Thurgau. Some industries are concentrated in certain regions: the watch and jewelry industry in the Jura Mountains; machinery in Zürich, Geneva, and Basel; chemical industries (dyes and pharmaceuticals) in Basel; and the textile industry in northeastern Switzerland. In 1993, the industrial sector was targeted for assistance by a government-initiated revitalization program; in 1995, the sector again benefited from government policy when the turnover tax was replaced by a value-added tax system, expected to relieve industry of SwFr1–2 billion per year in taxes. Switzerland, along with Germany and Japan, is at the forefront of the emerging industry of environmental technology.

The textile industry, using wool, cotton, silk, and synthetics, is the oldest Swiss industry and remains important. The machine industry, first among Swiss industries today, produces goods ranging from heavy arms and ammunition to fine precision and optical instruments. Watches and machinery represent about 42% of the total Swiss export value. (By themselves, the world-famous Swiss watches account for 8% of exports and command 50% of the world market.) Chemicals, especially dyes and pharmaceuticals, also are important. About 10% of the world's medicines are produced by three companies in Basel. Despite agricultural problems, Switzerland has also developed a major food industry, relying in part on the country's capacity for milk production. Condensed milk was first developed in Switzerland, as were two other important processed food products: chocolate and baby food. The Swiss company Nestlé S. A., headquartered in Vevey, is one of the world's largest food companies. Because of shifts in foreign demand, some of Switzerland's major industries, such as textiles, nonmetallic minerals, and watchmaking and clockmaking, have declined in importance in recent years, while others, such as chemicals, plastics, and paper, have grown rapidly.


Hope this in general helps u.

Keep asking more!

Answer 5

Insurance,banks,tourism,chocolate,watches and clocks,knives,electro-mechanical,pharmaceuticals,Red Cross and United Nations

Answer 6

Hospitality and Tourism. I heard in Switzerland has famous hospitality and tourist schools.

Answer 7

Amsterdam is the capital of Holland/The Netherlands. Tourism is between the significant industies, however the port of Amsterdam is significant for the cacao marketplace. besides it has the international trend centre, the inventory marketplace and many international agencies have their eu headoffice in Amsterdam

Answer 8

What aeromann said, plus insurance and of course reinsurance and I'm not sure why he left out tourism.

Answer 9

Banking and tourism

Answer 10

banking tourism watches selling dangerous stuff to other nations ;) Shokolade ect...

Answer 11

skiing, tourism, and making the best time pieces around.