NEWS FROM:
Location: Switzerland+
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Switzerland lands 526 Investment Projects Creating 2289 new Jobs in 2004 Alpine nation continues to draw more North American firms as well as relocations from within the EU
WASHINGTON, March 15 - During 2004 a total of 526 firms made
new or expanded investments in Switzerland, creating 2289 new jobs. Supporting
statistics were released here by the Swiss inward investment agency Location:
Switzerland based on data compiled by the State Secretariat for Economic
Affairs (seco) in Berne.
"Of the 526 projects, 43 hailed from the U.S., Canada
and Mexico", said Mario Brossi, Location: Switzerland's Senior
Representative for North America. This compares favorably to the 446 projects
and 2091 new jobs recorded during the prior year in 2003.
Mr. Brossi said that "the U.S. continues to be the
largest single foreign investor in Switzerland, with a total of $86 billion to
date according to the latest figures by the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce.
Increasingly," he said, " these investments also include relocations
by North American and other firms already based within the EU that seek to
benefit from the business-friendly labor laws, world-leading quality of life,
access to a well-educated, multilingual and highly productive workforce, and a
favorable and moderate tax regime."
Leading examples of new North American investment in Switzerland
are significant projects by Biogen Idec, Cellgene, Sigma-Aldrich, Honeywell,
UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Salesforce.com and Zimmer Holdings.
Examples of recent North American relocations from elsewhere
in Europe include Nova Chemicals, Cargill, Gillette and General Mills from the
UK, Colgate-Palmolive, Invacare International and Polo Ralph Lauren from
France, and Fischer Imaging and John Deere from Germany.
"These projects from North American and other regions
of the world bring new talent and investment to Switzerland and continue to
attest to the country's standing as one of the most attractive foreign direct
investment destinations globally," Mr. Brossi said.
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