1. Chemicals (30%)
2. Machinery, electronics (29%)
3. High precision instruments, watches, jewelry (15%)
4. Metals (8%)
5. Agricultural and forestry products (4%)
6. Textiles, clothing, shoes (3%)
7. Vehicles (3%)

A few firms have already settled here, such as the Chinese Alibaba (media) headquartered in the city of Geneva. Others are the South Korean Songwon International (chemistry) in Frauenfeld and the Indian Arexera Information Technology in Schaffhausen.

To most entrepreneurs, Switzerland seems like an attractive location to do business through an offshore incorporation. That is why more than 180 international firms mostly from the U.S. and Europe like Kraft Foods, Cisco Systems, Nissan, Yahoo, Cadbury or Google moved their operations to the Lake Geneva region during the last decade.

Switzerland Gains Draw as Tax Haven

Several large U.S. companies are reincorporating from Bermuda to Switzerland. This helps them avoid expected legislation aimed at corporations located in tax heavens.

Just recently, oil-industry firms Weatherford International Ltd., Forster Wheeler Ltd. and Houston’s Noble Corp. as well as also conglomerate Tyco International Ltd. announced their moves. A similar move plans Transocean Inc., a big offshore driller after receiving shareholder approval. Early this year (2008), the board of Bermuda-based insurer ACE Ltd. approved a “redomestication” from the Cayman Islands to Zurich.

Chiefly, the moves are designed to preserve tax benefits the companies enjoyed while being domiciled in countries like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda or even in the US state Delaware with favourable tax rules.

However, those companies discovered that Switzerland is a better place for tax protection than in these countries. Tax authorities have threatened to close tax loopholes that allow U.S. companies to benefit from incorporating in offshore tax havens while operating from the U.S. Even if the laws should change, Switzerland’s tax treaties with the U.S. would still protect companies. For this reason, offshore incorporation in Switzerland will ensure the same tax advantages.

For years, the French part of Switzerland has lagged behind its Swiss-German rivals as a location for commerce. The city of Basel with its pharmaceutical, chemical and biotech industries flourished for years. Zurich’s financial services sector also grew very rapidly while the French speaking part of our country drew up the rear, bothered with above average unemployment and a lack of dynamic businesses.

Switzerland has become the logical choice for a company looking for their European operations and headquarters to this region. Regional company seats mean high-qualified jobs for people with a good education and appropriate salaries and a knowledge transfer.

According to a study in 2006, international companies already operating from Switzerland would again settle here. The companies from India, China, Taiwan and South Korea are going global right now. It has to do that the champions from Asia grow stronger into the world economy.

Nevertheless, they keep coming, not just from Asia but also from all over the world. The town of Rolle for instance has already made room for U.S. agriculture giant ADM (Archer Daniels Midlands) this year. So also to the Japanese luxury car brand Infiniti (Nissan International SA), which has set up its European operations to this town.

Nearby, the town of Nyon is the second most dynamic area in Switzerland for new offshore incorporation start-ups. It is currently registering an annual increase of seven per cent. Morges, another town close by registers similar increases. The addition of companies moving into the Geneva-Montreux region was very noticeable in recent years.

The Lake Geneva region – the perfect location for an offshore incorporation

Experts cite a combination of factors. The region offers quality of life to expat workers who are used to the daily grind of commuting in big European or U.S. urban areas.

Than, there is the availability of highly qualified staff, both in numbers and in proximity to the company’s location. This is rather difficult to find in other European countries. Additionally comes that Switzerland has a high educational standard and many employees are bi- if not tri-lingual.

For this reason, the region is proving particularly attractive to companies in the service industries. It will also move U.S. companies closer to a faster-growing customer base in East Europe and Asia, where more than half of their revenues may come from today.

Combine that with a very attractive taxation level and the availability of international schools for the children of managers…

… and the result is an overall offering that makes areas like this appear very attractive in international terms. For many, it is reason enough to move their European headquarters to Switzerland to form an offshore incorporation.

The man who is known as ‘Mr Swatch’ has died of a heart attack whilst working at his office in Biel in Switzerland.
Nicholas Hayek – the founder of the famous brand – was aged 82.

As well as developing a design classic, the Lebanese-born businessman is credited with saving the Swiss watch-making industry.

When the Swatch was introduced in 1983 it brought jobs and money to the region at a time when business was flagging.

The colourful and inexpensive watches enabled Switzerland to compete with cheap imports from Asia.

For many decades, the country had been the centre of the world for watch-making, but it was suffering in the 1970s with the dawn of the digital watch.

Companies like Seiko and Casio also offered precise time-keeping at budget prices and time was running out for Swiss watch makers.

.Reference resource: Click Here.

Our mission is to be seen as the world’s pre-eminent business school for entrepreneurship and business leaders of the future. We offer not only an inspiring, creative and challenging learning environment but also the latest research and leading edge thinking into the future of business.

Opus Business School Switzerland will promote higher and continuous education for national and international students and executives from all over the world. The aim of the business school is to develop business leaders of the next generation in faculties of Finance, International management as well as studies of nanotechnology and substantiated technologies in business and its uses. It will cater to the current and future markets in Switzerland, EU and the world over. It offers a hi-tech, creative and ultra modern infrastructure for studies as well as a progressive, highly qualified and motivated faculty.

OBSS focuses on delivering quality Bachelors and Masters Programmes in Finance & international Management. OBSS flagship high masters programmes are the pre-eminent postgraduate qualification for business professionals.

.Reference resource: Click Here.

In Switzerland the banking system works in such a manner to please both normal people and to respond to the financial needs of large corporations. The country has little flaws on the social and economical level. This made it the perfect candidate for the position it occupied after the First World War. It became the largest gold market in the world. The gold extracted from Russia and from South Africa was bound to leave to Switzerland by agreements signed between these countries. The amount of gold entering Switzerland was of 1000 t every year.

Major gold consuming countries like Italy or India had to buy the necessary amount of the precious metal from there. Italy has a tradition in manufacturing gold jewels. Craftsmen create new designs and recreate the classic ones in a manner which makes Italian jewelry famous worldwide.

In India gold was shipped first of all in exchange of diamonds. Being the owner of a certain amount of gold became soon the best way of keeping savings. In the rural area of India gold is a marker of the social status of a person. During weddings bride have to wear gold jewels and they need to have a dower of gold.

The title of the largest gold market in the world does not belong to Switzerland anymore. The gold mines in Russia and those in South Africa have considerably reduced their production of gold. At the same time other mine were inaugurated in Australia or in America. Those were not as accessible for Switzerland as its two ancient suppliers. Even if Switzerland is no longer the most important international gold market it still remains a very important place for countries that need to buy gold or to sell gold.

Based upon a total of 1,400 banks, insurance companies, accountants and other consultants currently there are 3’508 finance jobs are advertised. That is 35 percent more than in June 2009.

Across the banking sector banks in Switzerland had a total of 1,457 jobs at the end of March 2010. This is 110 percent more than in June 2009.

In Insurance we have seen a slight decline. Across the insurance industry, including health insurance, in the summer of 2009 there was 1,086 open insurance jobs. At the end of March 2010 this had declined to 1,016. This represents a decline of -6.4 percent.

Across the other financial sectors & support industries (Accounting, consulting, IT, etc.) jobs have increased from 819 to 1,035 (+26.4 percent).

The main reasons for this development, is the banks are replacing staff originally cut when they had to reduce costs – during the previous 2 years. For many insurance companies, cost cutting is ongoing. In addition, increased regulatory pressure meant additional experts were necessary.

The report used an index which shows the evolution of online Switzerland job vacancies in the financial sector in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The index is produced every three months by the Swiss financial portal finews.ch with data of the portal JobDirectory.ch.

Switzerland Banking Jobs in focus:

Most banking jobs were offered in late March 2010, Credit Suisse, with 395 jobs, followed by UBS with 336. While at Credit Suisse, the demand last year grew more constant and rose sharply from 2010, at UBS as early as October 2009, there was a significant increase which lasted up to February 2010.

Foreign banks are recruiting

Coupled with this the Foreign Banks in Switzerland are recruiting for banking jobs. This increase reflects recruitment having a high turnover, but also the fact that many institutions consider the adjustment in the private banking as an opportunity to recruit good people.

Swiss Banking looking to the customer:

Almost two-thirds of all vacant banking jobs in Switzerland are for specialists and executives. Only ten percent of the jobs are for employees on the level of clerk or assistant.

The greatest demand for workers is at the customer front. The most common available banking job is for Account Managers in the retail and SME business, followed by Investment advisers in the so-called affluent area (average retail segment).

In relative terms, the number of classical Private Banker -which to serve wealthy clients has grown the most. Since summer 2009, the number of private banking jobs presented has increased from 19 to 45, representing an increase of 140 percent.

Overall – good recruitment growth:

In the first Quarter of 2010, the number of jobs available in the Swiss financial sector was around a total of 3’508 jobs. This is an increase of 19 percent over the same quarter in 2009.

Swiss bank accounts are offering the client full privacy regarding his business and transactions, any bank in Switzerland have to obey the rule of banking secrecy and if they fail to obey it then they had committed a crime and could be on trail for that. Swiss banks are very professional and have experience with major companies and personal clients around the world for dozens of years.

There are serveral types of account, such as high yield savings bank account, student bank account, business bank account. All these bank account types could be a numbered swiss bank account. Numbered Swiss bank accounts are not anonymous bank accounts as many people make a mistake. The idea behind numbered Swiss bank accounts is that the client does not have to reveal his name or personal information in order to accept or send payments and for other various of transactions. Nevertheless, the bank will have all the information of the bank account owner like any usual bank account.

Tax evasion does not considered a crime in Switzerland, and therefore if you are not paying tax in the country which you residents in, then you didn’t commit any crime from the Swiss government point of view. If the country which you live in finds out that you evaded tax, Then you are vulnerable in your own country, depends on the local rules. BUT, still, you can rest assured that the Swiss bank will not reveal any of your private or financial information as they are not allowed to according to Swiss secrecy rules.

Until 1993, gambling was banned by law in Switzerland, but this was repealed in a referendum by the Swiss people, and the first Switzerland casinos opened in 2002. There are now 19 casinos in Switzerland, categorized according to their size; however, even the biggest Switzerland casino, located in the Grand Hotel in Lugano, has a relatively modest 26 gaming tables and around 350 slot machines, and many others are significantly smaller. Most are situated in popular resorts and tourist destinations, in order to take advantage of the demand for gambling that large numbers of foreign visitors inevitably bring.

In addition, there is a fairly stringent set of regulations that govern the Switzerland casino business, which are designed to help maximize the positive effects of gambling in the context of a socially responsible regulation regime. Swiss casinos are required to train their staff in recognizing and helping those who are gambling beyond their means, and they are also obliged to provide information detailing the potential risks of excessive gambling to all customers. Customers are also required to show identification when entering casinos, but unlike many other European countries, there is no requirement for patrons to be registered with the casino.

Apart from the aforementioned Grand Hotel Lugano, which is the largest of all Switzerland casinos, there are also several other large casinos in the country, situated in Baden, Basel, Bern, Luzern, Montreux, and St. Gallen. Thirteen smaller casinos are spread around Switzerland, including facilities in Davos, Interlaken, and St. Moritz. These casinos cater to local and international visitors, in particular those visiting Switzerland for winter sports, but also to the business traveler. The Switzerland casino business is a relatively small but growing sector of the economy, and visitors to the country will find the facilities ultra modern and extremely welcoming.