Switzerland

Mountains, lakes, chocolate, cuckoo clocks, private banking and international institutions are some of the items we associate with Switzerland when considering visiting this small country.

Breaking away from its traditionally distant relationship with its European neighbours, the Swiss voted in 2005 to join the Schengen Accord, allowing EU residents and non-EU visitors to other countries such as France, Germany & Italy to enter Switzerland without needing a passport. Yet the government no longer has EU membership as a goal. Instead, the Swiss have entered into a series of talks with the EU aimed at protecting Swiss independence and neutrality, while also allowing them to take advantage of free trade agreements as well as agreements on labor movement, transportation and asylum.

Switzerland’s key industries are banking, tourism, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals. Additionally, Switzerland is known as a premium manufacturer of precision instruments for engineering such industries as watch making and biological sciences.