Jean-Pierre Roth: Switzerland – a platform for global business Summary of a speech by Mr Jean-Pierre Roth, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, at the Forum de l'Economie vaudoise, Lausanne, 14 September 2007. The complete speech can be found in French on the Swiss National Bank’s website (www.snb.ch). * * * Within the past ten years, Switzerland has become a genuine platform for global economic operations. From here, the international markets are being worked systematically, and an ever-growing part of our economic performance is now attributable to investment activity abroad. This is a welcome development since it allows us to keep high value-added jobs in Switzerland. However, it also involves some risk because the international mobility of production has increased. Consequently, the general conditions which help to keep Switzerland attractive as a business location must be maintained. This platform for global economic operations has given us a role outside the European Union and the euro area. Thus we have chosen to face the challenge of globalisation instead of the challenge of European integration. Our path may be demanding, but it is also promising!