NEWS from Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion Volume 13

25/11/2009

LOCATION Switzerland
info@osec.ch
LOCATION Switzerland
www.locationswitzerland.com

Top of the News

Baxter International, Yahoo!, Alcon Corporation, AGCO, Medtronic and CSL Behring all received Tell Awards for Switzerland's most significant inward investment projects by North American firms in 2008 at a festive ceremony held at the Ambassador's private residence on October 26th. The awards are named for the legendary Swiss hero William Tell and recognize the job creation, investment and technology achieved by foreign investors in Switzerland every year. 135 persons from industry, politics and media attended the ceremony which grows in attendance and interest every year.

Wins and Updates

Texas-based DataCert, a provider of legal operations management solutions, has announced the opening of its latest European office in Zurich.

Herndon, VA- based K12 Inc., a premier education and distance learning provider for students from kindergarten through high school, has announced the establishment of a new international headquarters in Thun, Canton Bern. The new location will spearhead the company's growing presence in Europe and Asia as well as assisting with product research, customer service, teacher education, administration and sales. An initial team of seven persons will be based at the HQ.

Ft. Worth, TX-based Alcon, Inc., a leader in ophthalmic pharmaceuticals research and development, has purchased ESBATech AG in Zurich. Alcon will pay a reported $150 million in cash as well an additional $400 million in agreed milestone payments.

Cleveland, OH-based Eaton Corporation, a diversified power management company and global technology leader in electrical systems, has enlarged its footprint in Switzerland by purchasing the remaining fifty per cent stake in Micro Innovation Holding AG in St. Gallen. The Swiss company manufactures programmable logic controllers and input/output devices.

Reverse Investments

Zug-based Foster Wheeler AG has reportedly acquired the assets of Atlas Engineering, Inc. a manufacturer of blind threaded rivets based in Houston, TX.

Addeco SA, one of the global leaders in executive search and job placement, will acquire MPS Group, Inc., of Jacksonville, FL, an internet consultancy and systems integration company. The transaction valued at $1.3 billion, still awaits shareholder and regulatory approval.

Actelion, Inc. of Basel, one of Europe's largest pure biotechs has enlarged its San Francisco footprint by purchasing the Sierra Point Building near the San Francisco Airport for a reported $32 million. The Swiss company had heretofore leased about 50,000 square feet in the building and now plans to consolidate its operations there.

Am Trust Financial Services, Inc. based in Florham Park, NJ, and traded on NASDAQ has acquired Sarasota, FL based workers compensation specialist Cyber Comp from Swiss Re.

Syngenta AG, a leader in pesticides and fertilizers headquartered in Basel, has entered into an agreement to buy Monsanto's global sunflower assets for a reported $160 million.

Meyer Burger Technology AG, a manufacturer of band saws located in Central Switzerland has agreed to acquire Diamond Wire Technology LLC in Colorado Springs, CO. The US company manufactures saws and diamond wires.

From The Foreign Desk

Pastca, Venezuela's largest milk processor, recently moved its head office from Venezuela to Fribourg, where it is expected to create around 20 new jobs in the medium term. The company's finance, marketing, human resources and research activities will be managed from the Fribourg site.

Also from Venezuela, it was announced that Petro Falcon Corporation is set to acquire a majority stake in Switzerland's photovoltaic power generation company Solar Resources Holding Sarl, also known as Etrion.

Bermuda-based Ariel Reinsurance Co Ltd has opened a branch office in Zurich to expand its credit and surety reinsurance business.

Following the continuing growth of its European sales and the increasing number of clients in Switzerland, Asustek, a Taiwan-based computer hardware manufacturer, has opened a sales office in Schlieren near Zurich.

Nordeck International of Germany has acquired a seventy percent stake in Fritschi AG Swiss Bindings. The Swiss manufacturer of ski bindings is based in Reichenbach.

Spanish telecommunications group Telefonica has opened several branches across Europe including offices in Switzerland.

Other News

On September 23 Switzerland and the US signed an updated income taxation treaty, a move the U.S. hopes will help it combat offshore tax evasion by U.S. citizens. It provides the IRS with greater access to information on U.S. account holders at Swiss banks but calls for the U.S. to clearly identify the suspected account holder.

Transparency International's 2009 Global Corruption Report and Corruption Perception Index ranks Switzerland 5th out of 180 countries.

Publicity and Promotion

Releases sent since our last Newsletter:

September 15 - Switzerland takes First Place 2009-2010 Global Competitiveness Report issued by the World Economic Forum.

October 20 - Switzerland Announces Winners of Significant Investment Projects for 2008

STIP's 19th Media Tour was held the week of October 26 to showcase Swiss innovation in green tech and clean tech. Fourteen journalists visited locations in the Greater Zurich Area, Lucerne, Basel and Western Switzerland. First results are below under SwissInk. Future newsletters will report on additional results from this tour.

SwissInk (Note that links were "live" at publication of this newsletter)

Business Week in its September 10 edition carried an article titled "Lower Your Taxes, Move to Switzerland." This well-researched article quoted KPMG's Andreas Mueller, Stephanie Garelli of IMD, SACC's Martin Naville, and Daniel Kueng, CEO of OSEC.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_38/b4147062134006.htm

The Star-Ledger, New Jersey's largest newspaper, carried an Associated Press-authored travel article on the attractiveness (and low cost !!) of Geneva as a vacation destination. http://travel.nj.com/dynamic/stories/E/EU_TRAVEL_TRIP_GENEVA_ON_A_BUDGET_TRVOL?SITE=NJNEW&SECTION=TRAVEL&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Our release on the 2009-2010 WEF rankings along with an article on Singapore/CSEM collaborations to advance the development of microfluidics technology was carried in NanoBusinessNews

The September 15 WEF rankings release resulted in a Business Facilities interview with Mario Brossi on factors that contributed to our number 1 ranking. It appeared in the October print and online edition.

The October 2 issue of Science carried an article by Wendy Wolfson reporting on Dr. Frank Ruehli's work as head of the Swiss Mummy Project at the University of Zurich to determine how the ancient Egyptians accomplished this feat. Wendy has participated on STIP media tours.

Bloomberg.com on October 13 carried an article titled "Bankers Will Follow Hedge Funds to Switzerland" describing how a "new top income-tax rate of 50 percent, coupled with heavy-handed regulations planned by the European Union, are prompting the funds to quit the British capital for somewhere more sympathetic to their hypercompetitive brand of capitalism." It explained that "The combination of high taxes and new EU regulations poses the biggest threat in a generation to London's pre-eminence as Europe's financial hub." http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&sid=ap19tV54PWuE

According to a report by a team of MBA students from Oxford's Said Business School and economists from the University of Oviedo, Switzerland ranks 5th globally and 2nd in Europe in the "Broadband Quality Study 2009." The US ranks 15th and Canada 17th.

Our release on the 2008 Tell Award winners was picked up by more than 205 outlets with posted hits per day ranging from 1,000 to 478,000.

First coverage on the Green Technology media tour

Peter Alpern of Industry Week reported on Katadyn's water treatment products in the November 5 online issue www.industryweek.com/articles/katadyn_bucks_trend_chooses_manual_labor_over_automation_20353.aspx

Based on a presentation by Dr. Alain Jenny at EPFL Bart King reported for Sustainable Business on the SESEC (Sustainable Environmental Solutions for Emerging Countries) conference that began November 10 in Lausanne. http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/19212

Filing daily during the tour Lisa Sibley of Cleantech.com reported on the following visits:

Rinspeed unveils new details about urban commuter EV http://cleantech.com/news/5209/rinspeed-unveils-new-details-about

SwissFarmerPower's slurry-to-biogas plant in startup mode
http://cleantech.com/news/5225/swissfarmer-slurry-biogas-plant

Swiss power electronics firm set for wind growth in China
http://www.cleantech.com/news/5219/swiss-power-electronics-company-set

CIGS tech with 16 percent conversion efficiency?
http://cleantech.com/news/5227/cigs-tech-16-percent-conversion-eff

Endress+Hauser tests pilot projects with wireless flow meters
http://cleantech.com/news/5228/endress-hauser-advances-pilots-wire

Katadyn should take its portable desal tech to the next level
http://cleantech.com/news/5229/katadyn-should-take-portable-desal-

VW fleet to run on Basel city garbage?
http://cleantech.com/news/5231/vw-fleet-run-basel-city-garbage

Mecana's mission: reusable water, energy efficiency and cloth filters
http://www.cleantech.com/news/5242/cloth-filter-specialist-generates-r

Wasteless water device latest invention from Creaholic
http://www.cleantech.com/news/5245/hand-scrubbing-station-dries-water

GreenValue captures natural polymers from biomass in India
http://cleantech.com/news/5246/greenvalue-captures-natural-polymer

More coverage on the Emergency Management Media Tour

John Morrow did a comprehensive 3-page 4-color report on OCHA for the summer issue of Frontline Security.

Chris MacLean, editor of Frontline Security, invited an article by Jennifer Giroux, a researcher for the crisis risk network at the ETHZ Center for Security Studies, to do an article on the role of society in preparing for and responding to emergencies. It was the cover story plus two pages in the summer 2009 issue.

Kathy Anderson of Washington Update reports that she has spoken at several meetings and conferences and frequently reference knowledge gained on our trip. "I've gotten materials about OVD Kinegrams into the hands of credentialing officials at HHS, directed state EMS offices to the SwissRe web site for information, talked about the amazing work at Evolva and Roche in pan flu talks, referenced the Institute of Virology and biosecurity efforts to FEMA, and the WHO visit... one of the most pertinent and timely of all--those contacts will always be invaluable!"