Liat Clark reports on how the Swiss city’s stability and neutrality have captured the attention of global businesses.
It seems a paradox that a city home to trundling trams, genteel cafés and strict 7pm closing hours is also a hub for world organisations and a trade and finance epicentre. “We have no choice, “ says Philippe Meyer, director of international affairs at Geneva’s Chamber of Commerce. “We have no natural resources, so we have to be good.”
But Geneva is not just good at what it does – it is excellent. Anyone who has walked the Old Town’s immaculate streets, owned one of the city’s coveted timepieces or sampled one of the award-winning local pinot noirs will be certain that Switzerland’s second city – located spectacularly between the Jura mountains and the Rhône-Alps – does nothing by halves.
And it’s the same story on a national level. Ratings published by institutions such as the World Economic Forum and the European Commission rank Switzerland first for infrastructure, European innovation, scientific research and the number of foreign highly skilled workers (there are 569 multinational companies in Geneva alone). The country has also been ranked number one for transfer of knowledge between companies and universities by the International Institute for Management Development – something that is crucial to the Swiss economy’s future development, according to Daniel Loeffler, director of the Geneva Economic Development Office.
“We had a lot of breakthrough innovations coming out of universities and the main difficulty was making sure they were successful and had an international market,” Loeffler says. “We created bridges between headquarters of multinationals and young start-ups. The companies have a perfect understanding of the market and a global network – putting them together is a win-win.”
Though Geneva is synonymous with money – be it because of the numerous financial institutions here (BNP Paribas, UBS, JP Morgan) or the booming luxury goods sector (Geneva is a global leader, with Patek Philippe and Rolex’s international HQs in the city and £7.7 billion-worth of watches exported in 2009) – the city knows the path to continued prosperity is diversity. This is in spite of predictions from the Swiss Bankers Association and the Boston Consulting Group in 2011 that the Swiss banking industry could rise in worth by £7 billion by 2015.
The city has 138 banks and is ranked first in the world for trade finance, according to the Geneva Financial Centre. Still, according to the Economic Development Office, only 10 per cent of the population work in the financial sector, representing about 20 per cent of GDP.
“We’ve surpassed London as the number one place for commodities trading, but we’re losing ground on some points,” Meyer says. “We therefore have to try to be the best in different sectors. Research and development and finance are both very important – it’s good not to have all your eggs in one basket. We’ve been lucky, and in a way we are paying for it with our currency, which is a big problem for export companies.”
The Swiss franc has gone from strength to strength – a few years ago the exchange rate was SFr 2.5 to £1, now it has stalled at SFr 1.4. As a result, niche markets (Meyer cites production of satellite parts as an example) are facing stiff competition from European counterparts that can offer the same product in the cheaper euro. To remedy this, the Chamber of Commerce has secured free trade agreements with Canada, Korea, Colombia and Peru.
The chamber is now in talks with China, Meyer says. “Chinese companies are starting to internationalise their operations so they have to find a way to optimise their global divisions,” he says. “Geneva is geographically the right choice. It’s multicultural, tax friendly and employer friendly. The Chinese [are tempted] to go to Germany because it’s a big market and they have the port in Hamburg, but we make them compare the cost of operations.”
In fact, it is down to Chinese interest that Geneva’s growth has remained stable since the recession. “We had fewer companies moving in from the US but more moves from China,” Meyer says. “We’ve also had lots of moves from the UK.” In 2010, two of Europe’s largest hedge funds, Bluecrest and Brevan Howard, helped staff to relocate from London to Geneva after the government announced the 50 per cent tax rate for individuals with incomes in excess of £150,000.
Away from finance, Science Magazine called the Lake Geneva region the number one cluster for life sciences research in continental Europe in 2011. It’s a status the city plans to build on. “We held an event on fostering sustainable innovation in multinationals and start-up businesses, and the WWF [World Wide Fund for Nature] participated,” says Irina Sakharova Quitt, communication manager at the government’s Economic Development Office. “The fact that it has its global HQ here is important – we have the people in charge of businesses in the sustainable field speaking directly to companies.”
Geneva recently won its bid to host the 2015 World Chambers Congress, and Meyer says it will be a chance for the city to prove its commitment to innovation. “Increasingly, business is playing a role in serious society, and serious society is playing a role in business,” he says. “We want to focus on these issues, and with the United Nations office [the second-largest after New York], the World Trade Organisation, the European Free Trade Association and many non-governmental organisations based here, the congress and speakers can interact with international institutions.”
So what is it like to work in Geneva? A spokesman for luxury watchmaker Baume and Mercier says the city offers an ideal environment for expatriates. “Our Geneva base attracts a lot of non-Swiss workers,” he says. “It offers an excellent quality of life, with its mountains and lakes and cosmopolitan spirit.”
It has the infrastructure to match, which is noticeable as soon as you arrive. After landing at the glossy international airport, which offers connections to 106 destinations, you can pick up a free ticket for the five-minute train journey to Cornavin station, then walk to the shore of glistening Lake Léman. Here, you have your pick of hotels such as the Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, Kempinski, the Dorchester Collection’s Le Richemond, and Beau Rivage, an 1865 property that has hosted Sarah Bernhardt, Clark Gable and Jean Cocteau (see panel above).
At the hotel, you can exchange your ticket for a Geneva Transport Card, which offers 80 minutes of free transport during your stay. Not that you’ll necessarily need it – taking the footbridge, you will cross the tip of the lake to the financial district in minutes, spotting the 140-metre-tall Jet d’Eau fountain on the way.
Continue to Rue de Rhône and you will find 80 watch and jewellery boutiques, before heading up the hill to discover hundreds of years of perfectly preserved history in the St Pierre Cathedral and the International Museum of the Reformation. Geneva’s culture budget is £208 million – not bad for a city with a population of fewer than 200,000, 40 per cent of whom are foreigners.
Marco Torriani, general manager of the Mandarin Oriental, refers to the city as “just a small town – really, an island in France”, which explains the number of French workers. About 70,000 French nationals have a permit to work in Geneva, and the Swiss are following suit, working in the city but living in France to take advantage of the strong franc and low housing costs across the border. Affordable housing is a big problem in Geneva, and in 2011 Mercer ranked Geneva fifth most expensive in the world for cost of living for the second year in a row.
Both geographically and politically, the city has long been a good middle-ground meeting point, hosting four Geneva conventions to hash out war treaties between 1864 and 1949. According to Loeffler, its peace-making image remains steadfast.
“People tell me they make an association between political precision, neutrality, perfection and Switzerland,” he says. “They want to have these values linked to their companies. I was astonished by how many firms told me this.”
Visit my switzerland.com, geneva-tourism.ch
HOTEL DINING
Grand Hotel Kempinski
Located on the second floor of the eight-storey Grand Hotel Kempinski Geneva, brasserie Floor Two makes the most of its location overlooking the lake, with floor-to-ceiling windows and an outdoor terrace. The menu is laden with Mediterranean favourites such as rich Italian veal osso bucco, Milanese style, with polenta (E49) and pata negra ham with Manchego (E38). The focus is on the produce – traditional dishes done simply – with a touch of the hotel’s sleek, modernist style about the presentation.
- 19 Quai du Mont-Blanc; tel +41 229 089 081; kempinski.com
Beau Rivage
This beautiful 19th-century hotel does not disappoint with its decadence, from the sweeping marble stairwell that leads to the Michelin-starred Le Chat Botté restaurant, to the neat white-clothed tables with views over the lake. Chef Dominique Gauthier offers a seasonal menu and a daily changing lunch menu. When I visited, the five-course Maritim set menu (E170) comprised arugula and silky mousselines ravioli, paper-thin lobster carpaccio with truffle oil, sweet roasted duck breast with soy, honey and almond, a softened sweet cherry sorbet and green tea sorbet. Ask the sommelier to show you the hotel’s famed wine cellars – row upon row of dusty vintages, including the odd Mouton-Rothschild.
- 13 Quai du Mont-Blanc; tel +41 227 166 666; beau-rivage.ch
Mandarin Oriental
Rasoi by Vineet was the world’s first Indian restaurant to gain a Michelin star, and it was well earned by experimental chef Vineet Bhatia. The scents from the traditional tandoori oven that greet you are tantalising, and the menu shows what happens when tradition and heady spices meet highly skilled cookery. Examples of the unusual cuisine include lamb shank morel korma with saffron foam (E55) and curry leaf lobster with cocoa powder (E82). The venue is decked out in black and red, and a changing modern art sculpture stands in one corner.
- Quai Turrettini 1; tel +41 229 090 000; mandarinoriental.com. Visit businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested for a review of the hotel.
Les Amures
A few moments from St Pierre Cathedral, this 17th-century property makes a change from the big lakeside chains, and is one of the only five-star hotels in the city to serve regional cuisine. The atmosphere is relaxed, and the outdoor seating on the narrow cobbled lane is popular for leisurely business meetings. If the fondue (E25.50) or raclette (E7) is too rich for you, opt for the perch fillets Meunière-style, fresh from the lake with a brown butter, herby lemon sauce (E39).
- 1 Rue Puits-St Pierre; tel +41 223 109 172; hotel-les-armures.ch
