Handbook for Investors. Business location in Switzerland.

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Swiss Trade www.vsig.ch Languages: German, English, French Geneva Trading & Shipping Association (GTSA) www.gtsa.ch Languages: English, French 2.3.9 Headquarters functions Switzerland is a vital center for the global and regional headquarters of foreign companies. While European firms have their global headquarters in Switzerland, US companies tend to open their regional headquarters here. There are more than 6,500 foreign companies in Switzerland today, of which over 1,000 are regional or global headquarters. The number of companies that have moved their European headquarters to Switzerland has risen in recent years. More than 180 headquarters have been relocated to Switzerland in the last ten years alone, including 89 Forbes 2000 companies such as IBM, General Motors, Kraft Foods, Phillip Morris, Procter & Gamble, Dow Chemicals, Amgen, Baxter, DuPont, Nissan and Google. Some key criteria in the choice of location include availability of qualified staff, a favorable tax environment, a high standard of living and an advantageous geographical location. Neutrality in an economic sense is also important – all the major European markets are comfortable with a Swiss main office. 90 % of the foreign companies located here would choose Switzerland again and praise the excellent transport and communication infrastructure and the high standard of technology. Other advantages include proximity to research facilities and clients, the stable political and economic environment and reliable double taxation agreements. Switzerland is also perfectly suited as a test market because it offers the widest possible variety in a small area. 26 Handbook for Investors 2010
3. Economic framework. Free competition and trade and the protection of intellectual property are the cornerstones of economic success and make Switzerland attractive to both domestic and foreign companies. Efficiently organized administrative processes guarantee security for planning and day-to-day operations, while progressive environmental laws promote sustainability. Switzerland is an extremely attractive location for global firms. The main reason for this is its liberal economic environment and an economic policy based on the free market. Fig. 15: Economic freedom, 2006 Global ranking Rating Hong Kong SAR 1 8.94 Singapore 2 8.57 New Zealand 3 8.28 Switzerland 4 8.20 UK 5 8.07 Chile 6 8.06 Canada 7 8.05 USA 8 8.04 Australia 9 8.04 Ireland 10 7.92 Denmark 13 7.78 Netherlands 16 7.65 Germany 17 7.64 Luxembourg 21 7.58 Japan 27 7.48 Belgium 44 7.20 France 46 7.19 India 77 6.59 China 93 6.29 Brazil 96 6.16 Russia 101 6.12 Source: Cato Institute, Economic Freedom of the World: 2008 Annual Report Handbook for Investors 2010 27
Page 1 and 2: Handbook for Investors. Business lo
Page 3 and 4: Welcome. Dear Reader, By choosing t
Page 5 and 6: Table of contents. Advantages offer
Page 7 and 8: 10.3.4 Cross-border commuters .....
Page 9 and 10: 9. Excellent educational institutio
Page 11 and 12: 1.2 Climate. Switzerland’s climat
Page 13 and 14: Despite the close proximity of diff
Page 15 and 16: 1.7.2 Direct investments and Swiss
Page 17 and 18: 1.8 Switzerland in figures. Fig. 7:
Page 19 and 20: Fig. 9: Industry structure, percent
Page 21 and 22: 2.2.2 Direct investments In additio
Page 23 and 24: The medical technology industry is
Page 25: Dachorganisation Informatik- und Te
Page 29 and 30: Customs information www.zoll.admin.
Page 31 and 32: Swiss Federal Institute of Intellec
Page 33 and 34: In the main, Swiss product liabilit
Page 35 and 36: 3.5.2 Environment Swiss environment
Page 37 and 38: 4.2 Political and economic cooperat
Page 39 and 40: 4.3 The euro. Even though the offic
Page 41 and 42: The following criteria are crucial
Page 43 and 44: Liability Minimum capital Consultin
Page 45 and 46: Sole proprietorship and general par
Page 47 and 48: 5.4.2 Entry in the commercial regis
Page 49 and 50: Fig. 19: Do I need a visa? I would
Page 51 and 52: 6.1.3 Application procedure 1. Pers
Page 53 and 54: 6.3.3 Special case: students The pr
Page 55 and 56: EU/EFTA nationals EU-17 (original E
Page 57 and 58: Social insurance for foreign nation
Page 59 and 60: 7.1.2 Temporary accommodation and f
Page 61 and 62: Fig. 27: Construction sites: market
Page 63 and 64: Fig. 29: Market prices for owner-oc
Page 65 and 66: Fig. 30: Permit requirement by grou
Page 67 and 68: 8. Labor market and labor laws. Swi
Page 69 and 70: Fig. 34: Gross annual earned income
Page 71 and 72: Fig. 37: Labor market deregulation
Page 73 and 74: If the weekly maximum working hours
Page 75 and 76: for a specific period from unemploy
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8.6.1 Old age and survivors’ insu
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Calculation of family allowances by
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9. Financial center and capital mar
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Cantonal banks Deposit Protection o
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a minimum requirement is that purch
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Business angels in Switzerland www.
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9.6 Inflation. Switzerland has alwa
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Non-resident companies are subject
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10.2 Tax charge rate in internation
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10.3.3 Expatriates Qualifying expat
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10.4.2 Treaty rates Most treaties p
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10.5.7 Exports In addition to expor
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10.8 Transfer pricing rules. Accord
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outes. The connection between Germa
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Fig. 51: Direct intercontinental ai
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CHF 1.60 per thousand liters in Swi
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Fig. 54: Healthcare infrastructure,
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Fig. 55: Switzerland’s educationa
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PISA study Federal Office for Profe
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Fig. 59: Tuition fees in CHF per ye
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Fig. 61: School fees for internatio
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Institution Location Homepage SLF W
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Fig. 66: Personal safety, 2008 New
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Yellow Pages yellow.local.ch Langua
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Anyone who rents a property is urge
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Fig. 69: Real disposable income in
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14. Promoting Switzerland. Location
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Fig. 72: Examples of cantonal incen
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R&D project grants are available in
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20 TechnoArk, Sierre www.technoark.
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Switzerland. Trade & Investment Pro
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15.2 Table of figures. Fig. 1: Swit
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Countries of Europe. Handbook for I
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Language regions. Handbook for Inve
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