FABIZ Group 1307B

Team: Popescu Maria-Ioana, Truta Ingrid-Laura, Mocanu Matei, Iancu Sebastian

Switzerland
I. Introduction

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located at the confluence
of Western, Central and Southern Europe. It is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with federal
authorities based in Bern.

Switzerland is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north and
Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. It is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau, the Alps and
the Jura, spanning 41,285 km2 with land area comprising 39,997 km2. The Alps occupy the greater part
of the territory.

The Swiss population of approximately 8.7 million is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where
the largest cities and economic centers are located, including Zürich, Geneva and Basel. These three
cities are home to the headquarters or offices of international organizations such as the WTO, the WHO,
the ILO, FIFA, and the United Nations's second-largest office.

Bern is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city", with a population of
about 133,000.

Switzerland is a predominantly Christian country. Catholics are the largest denomination,

followed by Protestants. Switzerland's religious landscape has changed considerably in the last few
decades.

Switzerland has four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh.
Although the majority population are German-speaking, Swiss national identity is rooted in its common
historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy, and Alpine symbolism.
This identity, which transcends language, ethnicity, and religion, has led to Switzerland being described
as a Willens nation ("nation of volition") rather than a nation-state.

Every year, the life expectancy in Switzerland has increase by 0.16% from the previous year,
currently being 84.11 years in 2022.

II. Historical key events

 1699 - the first recipe of cheese fondue found in a book published in Zurich, later to become the
world-renowned symbol of Switzerland
 1812 - Switzerland declares Neutrality. Therefore, Switzerland will never get involved with foreign
affairs or wars.
 1864 - Foundation of the Red Cross. The Red Cross is an international organization used to help
other countries that need medical or dietary aid.
 1874 - Marriages, birth and death certificates are controlled by state authorities instead of the
church
 1875 – Daniel Peter’s Milk Chocolate invention - Some would argue this a crucial moment in Swiss
history. When Daniel Peter, a chocolatier, mixed powdered milk with chocolate he of course made
milk chocolate. He would go on to join forces with Henri Nestlé and sell his product. Over the
following years other Swiss chocolatiers, like Rodolphe Lindt, would tinker to make Switzerland into
what is known as today; the world’s best chocolate maker.
 1959 - Women obtain the right to vote. However, it is only in the Canton of Vaud.
 1979 - Canton Jura separates from Canton Bern
 1989 - Appenzell is forced by Switzerland to give women the right to vote. Now women have the
right to vote within all Cantons.
 1999 - Ruth Dreifuss becomes the first female president
 2000 - Switzerland accepts the laws of the European Union. However, Switzerland does not become
an official member in order to keep its high status as a country and its freedoms. Switzerland
accepts the laws of the European Union in order to keep peace within Europe.
 2002 - Switzerland joins the United Nations.

III. Economic environment

Switzerland is one of the most competitive economies in the world, in large part thanks to its
flourishing service sector. By international standards public debt in Switzerland is low, and the country
has a competitive tax system. Small-and medium-sized enterprises are the mainstay of the export-
oriented Swiss economy.

Switzerland's comparatively low level of public debt, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, has
been achieved by imposing a debt brake, i.e. a cap on public spending. The Swiss tax system reflects the
country's federal structure. Competitive corporate tax rates set by the cantons make Switzerland an
attractive location for companies. Switzerland has several other distinct advantages including a well-
trained workforce, considerable innovative capacity, political stability, a high standard of living and
its location at the centre of Europe. For all these reasons, a number of multinationals are based in
Switzerland.

However, SMEs are the lifeblood of the Swiss economy. Many of these companies are export-
driven, which is why Switzerland habitually runs a trade surplus.

Switzerland has one of the highest levels of per capita GDP in the world. Its strong economic
performance is largely driven by the services sector. The European Union is Switzerland's main trading
partner. 

Switzerland has the second highest per capita GDP in the world (USD 86,850 in 2020 based on
IMF statistics).

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 Approximately 74% of Swiss GDP is generated by the services sector and 25% by industry. The
agricultural sector contributes less than 1%.

The EU is Switzerland's main trading partner. Around 66% of Swiss imports are from the EU,
while 43% of Swiss exports are to EU countries.

The vast majority of Swiss businesses (over 99%) are SMEs employing fewer than 250 staff.

Switzerland has maintained a low level of public debt relative to other countries even during the
COVID-19 crisis. At the start of 2021, gross government debt (before deduction of financial assets) stood
at approximately CHF 100 billion, representing 15% of GDP.  

Switzerland has the lowest VAT rate in Europe. VAT is payable on most goods and services. A
reduced rate of 3.7% is levied on accommodation services, while a 2.5% VAT rate applies to basic
necessities and other everyday items.

Switzerland spends over CHF 22.5 billion on research and development (R&D) annually, which
equates to around 3% of GDP. The private sector contributes over two-thirds of this amount.

The currency of Switzerland is the Swiss franc. The franc is divided into 100 centimes. The
currency code for the Swiss franc is CHF.

IV. Trade environment

Switzerland’s major exports are machinery and equipment, chemical-pharmaceutical products,

watches, and textiles and apparel. Raw materials, food, vegetable oils, and fuel account for about one-
quarter of total imports and are transported by rail, truck, and barge. Among other leading imports are
manufactured goods, motor vehicles, and chemical products.

Traditionally Switzerland has been among the forerunners in liberalizing

and facilitating international trade, upon which its economy is heavily dependent. Most of Switzerland’s
trade is with the EU, with about three-fourths of its imports coming from and three-fifths of its exports
going to EU countries. Among its individual trading partners, Germany is its leading market, receiving
about one-fifth of Switzerland’s exports and providing about one-fourth of its imports. Other leading
export markets include France, Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Principal suppliers
include France, Italy, and China.

Switzerland generally meets its commitments under WTO and bilateral agreements, making it a
desirable trade destination for U.S. products and services. Some barriers to trade still remain in a select
few areas that present limitations to U.S. market opportunities in Switzerland and of which U.S.
businesses should be aware.  

Swiss agriculture is highly subsidized and regulated, with price controls, production quotas,
import restrictions, and tariffs all supporting domestic production. Imports of nearly all agricultural
products, particularly those that compete with Swiss products, are subject to seasonal import duties,
quotas, and import licensing.  Agricultural products not produced in Switzerland, such as tropical fruit
and nuts, tend to have lower tariffs. U.S. agricultural product access to the Swiss market further faces

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challenges from restrictive private standards and certain government regulations. 

Switzerland also has a strict regulatory regime for agricultural biotechnology products. In order
for biotech food or animal feed products to be imported and sold on the Swiss market, they must
undergo a lengthy approval process. In addition, labeling is required for products containing biotech
ingredients or derived from such ingredients. A moratorium on planting biotechnology crops and
marketing agricultural biotechnology animals is scheduled to remain in force through the end of 2021.

A continuing obstacle for certain U.S. exporters, particularly those of high value products, is the
food retailing system. Two retail giants, Migros and Coop, account for nearly 70% of grocery sales and
dominate the Swiss food retail market. U.S. exporters are disadvantaged because the two food chains
emphasize their own store brand products and favor products from their own processing plants over
international brands. Another barrier for U.S. brands represented by these major retail chains is their
policy not to sell foods produced with agricultural biotechnology. 

V. Social and cultural environment

As a country with four distinct linguistic regions—German-speaking in the north, center, and
east, French-speaking in the west, Italian-speaking in the south, and Romansh-speaking in the southwest
—Switzerland is a prime example of cultural variety.

The country of Switzerland welcomes visitors from all over the world because to its top-notch
educational system. Switzerland is aware of the importance of education and training in a nation with a
lack of natural resources. As a result, it will do everything in its power to create and maintain facilities
and universities of the highest caliber. Competent experts from many countries visit Switzerland and fit
in perfectly with the locals.

Switzerland is truly international in terms of entertainment, cuisine, festivals, religion, etc. Swiss
cuisine is one of the most striking instances of such. Regional and cultural differences have always
played a significant role in shaping Swiss cuisine. For instance, cheese dishes are more popular and
frequently consumed in the Alpine areas, but pasta, polenta, and risotto are indications of an Italian-
influenced culture in Ticino.

Swiss tradition survives in the country’s many holidays and festivals. Fasnacht (Carnival), which
marks the beginning of Lent, is celebrated in late winter throughout the country, with Basel’s parades
being of particular note. Although costumes and music are common features, Fasnacht exhibits regional
variations, and in some places, celebrants are adorned with masks said to chase away evil spirits. Masks
are also part of Sylvesterkläuse (New Year) celebrations, particularly in rural Switzerland. Spring is
marked by the burning of the Böögg during a festival that dates from 1818, when a guild held a parade
replete with music and horses. The festival, which marks the end of winter, terminates with the burning
of a large woodpile topped by a snowman. Throughout the fall there are various harvest and wine
festivals. A popular holiday in Geneva is the Escalade, which is celebrated in December and marks the
city’s victory over the duke of Savoy in 1602. August 1 is National Day (German: Bundesfeier; French:
Fête Nationale; and Italian: Festa Nazionale), which commemorates the agreement between

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representatives of the Alpine cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Nidwalden, who signed an oath of
confederation in 1291. The holiday itself, however, dates only from 1891, and it became an official
federal holiday in 1993. Other official holidays are religious in origin, and many of them, such as Whit
Monday and Assumption, are observed in only some cantons.

Folk arts in Switzerland include music, poetry (usually song), dance, wood carving, and
embroidery. In the cattle-breeding northern areas, there are many traditional forms of song and music,
involving, for example, the yodel, a type of singing in which high falsetto and low chest notes are rapidly
alternated.

Chip carving for the ornamentation of commonplace items like milking stools, bell neckbands,
wooden spoons, and distaffs makes up a portion of wood carving, which also includes figure carving,
particularly of Nativity figures. Traditional women's clothing components including cuffs, stomachers,
caps, and scarves have considerable embroidery. In several regions of northeastern and eastern
Switzerland, it has been a long-standing domestic industry.

Literature
“In Switzerland, writing is only possible as an export business,” Friedrich Dürrenmatt, one of
the few internationally known Swiss authors, once remarked. Even though Switzerland today publishes
thousands of books each year, many of the country’s literary successes date to previous centuries with
such figures as the Swiss-born French Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the French-
born memoirist and hostess Germaine de Staël, whose home at Coppet became a centre of European
literary life, and the noted 19th-century historian of art and culture Jacob Burckhardt,
whose Civilization of the Renaissance (1860) remains influential.

Music
There are several international music festivals held in Switzerland. A significant classical event is
the Worldwide Festival of Music, which takes place in late summer in Lucerne, while the annual
Montreux Jazz Festival draws a sizable international audience. Throughout the year, there are also a ton
of American country and western, jazz, and pop events, and a ton of nightclubs and performance venues
cater to rock music, including a booming national language scene. Every summer, one of the biggest
techno events in the world, Street Parade, attracts hundreds of thousands of followers of electronic
dance music to Zürich.

Cultural institutions
Renowned museums support the arts not just in major cities like Basel, Zürich, and Geneva but
also in little villages like Winterthur and Schaffhausen, which are cultural hotspots above and above the
norm for the province. The Pierre Gianadda Foundation in Martigny, which was constructed atop Roman
ruins, is one instance. It was founded in 1978 and has since earned a reputation for the caliber of the
artists it exhibits, including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Henry Moore, and Auguste Rodin. The
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, the Museum of Art and History, the Petit Palais,
which has a small but excellent collection of modern art, and the Voltaire Museum, all located in
Geneva, the Swiss National Museum, which houses many exhibits on Swiss culture and history, and the

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Museum of Fine Arts (Kunsthaus), all located in Zürich, as well as the Transport Museum, which houses a
variety of collections from religious to modern art.

Sports
In addition to customary Sunday morning shooting, other activities practiced in the nation
include wrestling in the Swiss style (Schwingen), gymnastics, ice hockey, basketball, floor handball,
tennis, golf, paragliding, hang gliding, sailing, and swimming. Early in the twenty-first century, Swiss
tennis player Roger Federer dominated the sport. Lakes and rivers offer fishing opportunities, and when
specific alpine lakes ice over, they are used for activities like horse racing and curling. Swiss athletes
have performed with excellence at every level of winter-sports competition and notably at the Winter
Olympic Games. Switzerland hosted the Winter Olympic Games at Saint Moritz in 1928 and again in
1948.

VI. Political and legal environment

Switzerland as we know it today was founded in 1848. The ceremonial position of federal
president is traditionally held by a different member of the council each year. The federal government,
the cantons, and the communes are the three tiers of government in Switzerland, a direct democracy.
The Federal Government handles key policy issues such as defense, infrastructure and external political
relationships. 

The country of Switzerland is divided into 26 cantons. A canton is a political and administrative
subdivision of a nation. The laws, governments, and constitutions of each canton are unique, although
they must all comply with the federal constitution in all respects.

On the other side, the communes (there are 2000 communes in Switzerland) deal with problems
at the local level; they create and carry out policies pertaining to matters of education, health, and even
culture.

The laws in Switzerland are created by the two chambers of parliament; the national council
(represents the population and has 200 members of parliament) and the council of the state (46
senators). Both the chambers have the same set of powers and their members are elected by the
Swiss people every four years.
The Federal Council, which has seven members who oversee several ministries and is also
elected every four years, is the authority in Switzerland that carries out the legislation passed by the two
houses.

The political system in Switzerland is perhaps one of the most stable and open in the world;
people there are deeply engaged in politics and are aware of how it affects their daily lives. Voters have
a significant role in the political decision-making of the nation; frequently, residents are observed
bringing up significant concerns at the local level through referendums, campaigns, or other small-scale
initiatives.

A stable government is key to the growth and development of the Swiss economy. Swiss
politics is based on consensus, stability and transparency. Making long-term decisions that will

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advance the nation's growth is always made easier with a stable administration in place. The
political climate reflects the main concerns of the electorate. Since many people have been
speaking out about climate change and its effects, the Swiss Green Party, whose work mandate
includes "caring for the environment," has experienced an increase in support in recent years.
Simonetta Sommaruga was recently elected as the president of Switzerland. She is a member of
the Social Democratic Party. She was a member of the Federal Council for ten years and was vice-
president and head of the environment, energy, and transport department in 2019.

VII. Conculusions
 Switzerland has one of the most competitive economies in the world thanks above all to its highly
developed service sector.
 Public finances have been in surplus for some years now, while government debt remains relatively
low.
 SMEs, the majority family-run firms, account for 99% of businesses operating in Switzerland. But
Switzerland is also home to a large number of multinationals.
 Switzerland is one of the top ten R&D investors in the world, spending over 3% of total GDP.
 The Swiss economy is driven by exports and imports, with Germany as Switzerland's number one
trading partner.
 Taxes in Switzerland are relatively low and rates vary from canton to canton and from commune to
commune.

VIII. References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland
https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/religionen/religionen---
fakten-und-zahlen.html
https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berna
https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/important-historical-events-in-swiss-history
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/becoming-a-modern-state_the-ten-most-important-
dates-in-swiss-history/45580448
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/switzerland/articles/12-moments-that-shaped-switzerlands-
history/
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Swiss_Timeline
https://www.britannica.com/place/Switzerland/Daily-life-and-social-customs
https://helpcentre.tcglobal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039524291-What-is-the-social-
environment-in-Switzerland-

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https://helpcentre.tcglobal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039116232-What-is-the-political-
environment-in-Switzerland-
https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/wirtschaft/uebersicht.html
https://legacy.export.gov/article?id=Switzerland-Trade-Barriers