Swiss Made Quality

Switzerland's economy is based on a highly qualified labour force performing skilled work. The main areas include micro technology, hi-tech, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, as well as banking and insurance know-how.
Most of the people working in Switzerland are employed by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), which are highly specialised, flexible and form the backbone of the Swiss economy. SMEs comprise more than 99 percent of registered companies in Switzerland. Most of their goods and services are exported. Switzerland's main export market is the European Union. Its main exports are chemicals, machinery, precision instruments, watches and jewellery.
Although Switzerland has no raw materials to speak of, its most important "natural resource" is education. The Swiss economy is not based on mass production, but on the development and production of individual goods of high quality.
Switzerland is dependant on a highly qualified and well-educated workforce. A good education system is therefore the basis of the competitiveness of the Swiss economy and Switzerland invests about CHF 10 billion (USD 8.8 billion / EUR 6.6 billion) - 2.6 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - into research each year.
This is more than most other industrially developed countries. More than 70 percent of research is financed by the private sector. Most research is done abroad: the private sector spends more on this than it does on research within Switzerland: CHF 9.8 billion in 2000 (USD 6.2 billion/EUR 6.1 billion at the exchange rate of January 2000). Most of the research done is on the growth industries of the future, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, environmental and medical technology, and information and communication technology.
The Swiss higher education institutes specialise in natural sciences with particular emphasis on chemistry, physics and medicine as well as in the fields of micro and nano technology. The two national universities, in Zurich and Lausanne, have become world famous for their research in the natural sciences. Seventeen Swiss scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize.
Switzerland owes the high standard of its economy to its liberal market system, political stability and close ties with foreign economies. The state creates the necessary framework and only intervenes when this is deemed to be in the general interest. As Switzerland is a small country its home market is limited, hence Switzerland is a big exporter and importer of goods, with services and trade accounting for a comparatively high percentage of its GDP.
The Swiss economy is geared towards provision of services; 71 percent of the workforce is employed in the tertiary sector (services), 25 percent in the secondary sector (industry) and 4 percent in the primary sector (farming). The main service sector industries are insurance, trade, commerce, banking, and tourism. The secondary sector is dominated by the machine, electronics, metals and chemicall pharmaceutical industry. The agricultural sector is undergoing changes due to an increased demand for organic products and more environmentally-friendly production methods.
Tourism is also an important source of income. Visitors from abroad spent CHF 13.1 billion in Switzerland in 2004, and domestic tourists around 9.7 billion. Figures released by the World Trade Organisation ranked Switzerland 15th amongst world destinations for tourism earnings in 2005, and 14th for the number of visitors which was estimated 10.5 million. Visitors from abroad accounted for about 3 percent of Swiss GDP in 2004. Tourism is the third most important source of export revenue, after the metal and machine industry and the chemical industry.
Almost one twelfth of Switzerland's workforce is employed directly or indirectly in tourism,with a much higher proportion in the mountains. In 2007 the World Economic Forum found that Switzerland had the most competitive travel and tourism sector in the world. So when we say it is top quality, we guarantee genuine Swiss care.