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One of Switzerland's perceived weaknesses is that its corporate sector is dominated by a huge number of "old economy" companies. The Swiss market has some of the world's biggest companies in banking, insurance, consumer food and engineering. Novartis, Roche, Nestle, ABB, UBS, Credit Suisse -- along with perhaps a dozen other Swiss multinationals -- are often regarded as the flagship companies of Switzerland. In such sectors as pharmaceuticals (Novartis and Roche), speciality chemicals (Lonza) and industrial fasteners (Hilti), Switzerland has always boasted global leading companies. Their corporate success is probably one of the main reasons that Switzerland runs by far the biggest balance of payment surplus of any industrialized country. However, the presence of these industrial behemoths tends to overshadow the prevalence of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's) in the Swiss economy and the increasing number of high-tech "new economy" success stories. One such extremely successful sector in the Swiss market is medical technology -- probably the biggest and most advanced in Europe -- with rapidly growing companies such as Mathys Medical and Synthes Stratec (equipment for bone fractures), and Phonak (hearing aids). Software and telecoms are other sectors where Switzerland is acquiring growing fame among international investors. These two sectors are represented by such companies as Swisscom, Diax, Ascom and Logitech. It remains widely unknown that Logitech produces every third computer mouse sold worldwide. These success stories reveal how much the Swiss economy has changed. But, being associated with terms such as "old economy" or "new economy" does not matter as much as the fact that the key to success in corporate Switzerland has always been international expansion, and precision technology: a timeless duo that spells success in any language.
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Ricola www.ricola.ch Hilti www.hilti.co.jp  |
