Editorial

A turbulent year is slowly coming to an end. A year that was infamous for war and displacement, for escape and migration. Similarly, dark clouds obscured the business sky at the beginning of this year when the SNB quite unexpectedly abandoned the minimum exchange rate of the franc against the euro. The ensuing strong increase in the value of the Swiss franc was – and remains – a shock for the Swiss economy.

But, the past has shown that this industry rarely had the chance to rest on its laurels. In times past the strengthening of the franc forced export companies to always be one step ahead of the international competition in terms of efficiency and innovative strength, to constantly open up new markets and – time and again – to abandon business areas in which one couldn’t compete.

And the experience with similar revaluation phases of the franc in the past has shown that although companies may have to battle with low margins and reductions in turnover for a certain period of time, they are nevertheless able to increase their productivity in a relatively short space of time.

• Infotrend PDF download