Message from Ambassadors

Invest in Switzerland

Urs Bucher
Ambassador of Switzerland to Japan
H.E. Mr. Urs Bucher was appointed as Ambassador to Japan in August 2010. He was born in Solothurn in the north-central part of Switzerland. After entering the diplomatic service, he took various important posts. Before taking the present
post, he led the European Integration Office of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Economic Affairs, withthe rank of an Ambassador.

Switzerland

more than 70 countries.

Switzerland has a population of 8.1 million people for aterritory of 41,000 km2 (size of Kyushu Island). The country lies in Central Western Europe with the Alps forming anatural boundary between its northern and southern parts
where European cultures and languages overlap. With four
official languages (German, French, Italian and Romansh),
Switzerland is characterized by cultural and linguistic diversity in Europe.
Switzerland has a very robust economy which is basedon a social market economy model. Swiss GDP per capita
is over USD 80,000, and it is among the highest in theworld. As in all modern societies, the tertiary sector dominates the Swiss economy. Important industries include
financial services and tourism. As for the secondary sector,
Switzerland’s lack of raw materials has led to the development of specialized manufacturing industries such as themachinery, life sciences and watchmaking.
Foreign trade is extremely important to the Swiss economy; the value of total imports and exports per capita as
well as the share of imports and exports to GDP are among
the highest in the world. In addition to a member of World
Trade Organisation and European Free Trade Association,
Switzerland shares a network of free trade agreements with

150 Years: Japan and Switzerland
2014 marks the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations
between Switzerland and Japan. The Treaty of Amity andCommerce between Japan and Switzerland was signed on 6February in 1864. During the year, the Crown Prince ofJapan, patron for the Japanese side of the anniversary, visited Switzerland, while Didier Burkhalter, President of Swiss
Confederation and patron for the Swiss side, came to Japanto kick off the celebrations.
Since the treaty, economic exchanges between the twocountries have steadily grown stronger, intensified by theirbilateral cooperation in the political and international fields
as well as in science and technology. We have a long history of developing together, based on complementary andcooperative relationship. The two countries share universal
values such as market economy, democracy, and freedom.
In the past few years, the two countries signed a series ofvery important agreements,• Free Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (2009)• Double Taxation Agreement (2011 revised)• Social Security Agreement (2012)• Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement (2007)• Open Skies Agreement (2014)

Switzerland as an Attractive Business Location

Zurich, the centre of finance and economy in Switzerland
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Switzerland is regarded as one of the most competitive
country in the world, as shown by the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report that Switzerland
topped for six consecutive years. According to various
country rankings, it is also regarded as the most innovative
country.
Among the over 10,000 foreign companies with pres-Swissdays held at Ropping Hills Arena in February 2014 to celebrate 150th anniversary of
diplomatic relations between Switzerland andJapan. Friendship ambassadors with the President and the Ambassdor of Switzerland, fromleft to right;
Mr. Kazuki Yamada, Mr. Isamu Tatsuno, Ms. Haruka Christine, Mrs. Burkhalter, President
Burkhalter, Ambassador Bucher, Mrs. Bucher,
Mr. Kiyomi Mikuni and Mr. Takaji Kunimatsu

ence in Switzerland, around 200 are from Japan. Japanesecompanies currently employ more than 9,000 people inSwitzerland. Traditionally, our country is very competitivein industries such as financial services, precision engineering, and pharmaceuticals. However, foreign companies
operating in Switzerland cover a widely diversified range.
Typical functions of Swiss subsidiaries of multinational
companies are highly value added such as global/regional
headquarters and R&D. Major reasons why Switzerland ischosen as a location for such functions are,• Stable economy and politics• Availability of high skilled labours• Centrally located in Europe• First-class infrastructure• Favourable tax regime• Dense network of Free Trade Agreements (FTA)Japanese Companies in Switzerland• Nitto Denko established a European Technical Centre at
EPFL in Lausanne, one of the best technical universities
in Europe. It focuses on research and development of biomaterials for biomedical and environmental applications.
Switzerland was selected because of its great international research networks, excellent educations system, andattractive incentives for research activities.
Recently, Japanese companies have played big roles atM&A deals in Switzerland. Takeda Pharmaceutical spentover JPY 1 trillion to acquire the third biggest Swiss pharmaceutical company, Nycomed to increase its internationalpresence, particularly in Europe and emerging countries.
Toshiba acquired Swiss electricity metering company
Landis+Gyr, a global leader of smart meters with a local
presence in over 30 countries.
Last but not least, some Japanese startup companies recently invested in Switzerland. One good example isMidokura, ICT startup specializing in network virtualization, which relocated its global HQ in Lausanne.

Some good examples of Japanese companies with headquarters (HQ) function in Switzerland include Japan Tobacco’s
International HQ in Geneva, Nissan’s European HQ in Rolle,
and Sunstar’s international HQ in Etoy. In the past few years
there have been several impressive greenfield investments byJapanese companies,• DMG MORI SEIKI is projecting to build one of its twoglobal headquarters in Winterthur, near Zurich (the otherone is in Tokyo). The facility is due to open in December
2014, with plans to hire 150-200 staffs for both the global
headquarters and a technical centre.

Nitto Denko established a European Technical Centre at
EPFL in Lausanne

JOI 特別会員『スイス大使館 スイス外国企業誘致局』のご紹介
スイス大使館 スイス外国企業誘致局では、スイスへの進出を検討する日本企業に対し、総合的できめ細かいサポートをワンストップにて提供しています。今後進出を検討する企業だけでなく、すでにスイスに拠点をもつ企業に対しても、スイスからの事業展開などについての支援を継続しています。日本語によるウェブサイト（www.s-ge.com/invest）や年数回開催のスイス事業投資セミナーなどでも最新の情報を提供しています。

スイス大使館 スイス外国企業誘致局
TEL: 0120-844-313 E-Mail: inquiry.jp@s-ge.com

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