NEWS FROM:

Location: Switzerland+

633 Third Avenue

New York, NY 10017-6706

212 599-5700 Ext. 1064

www.locationswitzerland.com

Mercer Human Resources 2006 Worldwide Quality of Living Survey

Zurich, Geneva and Berne Score in Top Ten for Fifth Consecutive Year

NEW YORK, April 10, 2006 - For the fifth straight year, Zurich and Geneva scored highest with 108.2 and 108.1 points respectively on the Mercer Human Resources 2006 Quality of Living Survey. Berne, the country’s capital, ranked 9^th with 106.5 points. New York City is the index at 100 and ranked 46^th. www.mercerhr.com

According to Mercer, the analysis is part of an annual World-wide Quality of Living Survey, covering more than 350 cities, to help governments and multinational companies place employees on international assignments. Each city is based on an evaluation of 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport, and other public services.

Mario Brossi of Location: Switzerland, the Swiss Foreign Investment Agency, noted that lifestyle and quality of life are increasingly among the top-ranking soft factors in the site selection process. "Invariably, Swiss lifestyle is cited among the many reasons why Switzerland continues to attract FDI projects from North America, elsewhere in Europe and worldwide," he said. "From North America alone, during 2005 there were 41 new investment projects and 19 expansions by existing investors from the United States, Canada and Mexico.” Comparable figures for 2004 were 18 new and 10 expanded projects.

Other reasons why Switzerland is an attractive FDI destination are outlined in the new brochure "Switzerland - The International Management Gateway to Europe" obtained by emailing locswitz@locationswitzerland.com or by downloading it from the Agency website at http://www.locationswitzerland.com/Gateway_final_complete.pdf

-0-

Contact: John Williamson 908 730-9622 or johnhwilliamson@earthlink.net