1/2011 - Jenoptik AG

Cornelia Ehrler
Switzerland stands for much that is characterized by quality,
taste and tradition. Just think of culinary delights such as Swiss
cheese, raclette and rosti. Or Swiss chocolate – many pioneers
of chocolate production were located in Switzerland, such as
Rodolphe Lindt, inventor of “conching”, which makes chocolate
creamy; Philippe Suchard, inventor of the “Milka” brand, and
Theodor Tobler, who invented ”Toblerone” in 1908 and which
is still produced exclusively in Bern, the Swiss capital.
Switzerland is eponymous for landscapes reminiscent of rocky
or sandy mountains and lakes. In Germany alone there are more
than 60 of these Swiss landscapes such as Saxon Switzerland,
with the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.
Switzerland also stands for money. According to statistics from
the International Monetary Fund, the Alpine country regularly
belongs to the five wealthiest countries in the world according
to its gross domestic product per capita. In the “Global Competitiveness
Index 2010 – 2011” at the Geneva World Economic
Forum, which evaluates the competitiveness of a country,
Switzerland is once again in first place, followed by Sweden,
Singapore, the United States – and Germany in fifth place.
Precision
Switzerland is different, but neutral.
Switzerland seems to be different, a special case in the middle
of Europe. A country with four official languages, including
Rhaeto-Romanic, spoken by only 0.5 percent of the population
in the canton of Grisons. Politically, too, Switzerland is different,
as the history of the Confederates, marked by wars and myths
surrounding the autonomy of the cantons, such as the Rütlischwur
(Rütli oath), gave rise to a unique political formation.
Founded as a loose confederation of states, the current federal
state with the official designation of ”Swiss Confederation”
differs from other republics worldwide. The 26 cantons are
living a distinctive federalism. Citizens have a direct influence on
government action through elements of direct democracy such
as referendums and initiatives. And the “perpetually armed”
neutrality in foreign policy is a constitutional principle, which
excludes membership in military alliances such as NATO.
Despite this, Switzerland has an army, no, Switzerland is an army,
as the saying goes. Although only five percent of Army personnel
are regular soldiers, the rest are conscripts, but they keep their
personal equipment, including weapon, at home. Swiss citizens
are prohibited from serving in a foreign army. The exception is the
Swiss Guard which has been responsible since 1506 for the
protection of the Pope as ”house police” – not as an army.
Switzerland is known for utmost precision. No wonder
that two Jenoptik divisions, which are both very precise,
are represented in the Confederation: Industrial Metrology
with Hommel-Movomatic Suisse SA and Traffic Solutions
with Multanova AG.
is our Business.
The Swiss government, the Federal Council with seven members, is tradition-
ally regarded as the most stable executive authority in the world. Equally
reliable are the conditions for foreign employers who appreciate the high
productivity and excellent infrastructure in Switzerland. Some 1,200 German
companies employ about 107,000 people in Switzerland through subsidiaries,
sales offices or investment holdings. Jenoptik is one of these companies; its
two subsidiaries from the Metrology segment live the traditional Swiss
understanding of precision:
Precision is our business.
The Jenoptik Industrial Metrology division has a presence in Switzerland with
its subsidiary Hommel-Movomatic Suisse SA. Jenoptik acquired the French
metrology specialists ETAMIC SA in 2006, which had already included Swiss
Movomatic SA since 1993. In 2007, the Etamic-Movomatic Group was merged
worldwide with the Jenoptik subsidiary Hommelwerke GmbH in Villingen-
Schwenningen to Hommel-Etamic.
The Swiss team of Hommel-Movomatic Suisse SA currently has about 30
employees at the Peseux location on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel in the
north-western canton of Neuchâtel. The origin of Movomatic lies in the
so-called “Watch Valley” between Basel and Geneva. In 1937, in this area
characterized by watch making and precision mechanics, the company
”Motomechanik” was founded in Inkwil which, a few years later in 1950,
specialized in ”in-process metrology”, i.e. in measurement technologies that
Switzerland and money.
It is also the sums of money in Swiss banks that are
notorious; Credit Suisse is probably the most recognized
bank. The almost mythically inflated Swiss banking secret
has now been somewhat superseded by the cooperation
between Germany and Switzerland in tax matters:
In October 2010, both countries signed a protocol on a
double taxation agreement, which governs the exchange
of information between the two countries. In addition,
a withholding tax for the accounts of foreign customers
is planned, which is to be transferred to the countries of
origin of the bank customers.
Even more problematic is how to deal with so-called potentate
funds, money from dictators, which usually stems
from corruption or other shady sources. The government
recently barred the assets assigned to the recently
deposed Egyptian head of government Mubarak, Ben
Ali of Tunisia and the Libyan ruler Gaddafi by emergency
decree in Bern. Overall, these potentate assets from
North Africa are believed to amount to 830 million francs
(approx. 660 million euros). Since the late 1990s, in
order to combat financial crime, Switzerland has drafted
anti-money laundering laws, which impose special duties
of care on Swiss banks. According to the Swiss Foreign
Ministry, in the past 15 years Switzerland has been able
to return 1.2 billion euros of confiscated dictator funds to
the respective countries of origin.
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