xport itemsSwiss companies are extremely competitive in world markets. In some branches, morethan 90% of goods and services are exported. The best-known export items are watches,chocolate and cheese, but in fact mechanical and electrical engineering and chemicalstogether account for over half Swiss export revenues. The areas where Switzerland is aleading supplier include looms, paper and printing machinery, blanking tools formetalworking, elevators and escalators, packaging equipment and rack-and-pinionrailways. However, many of the components for these items are now manufacturedabroad. Consultancy, insurance and tourism are also part of the export trade. Exports ofgoods and services alone amount to about 25,000 francs - 16,000 dollars - per head peryear, according to the OSEC business network, which promotes Swiss foreign trade. Chemical industrySwitzerland is among the world's leading producers of chemicals and pharmaceuticals.The chemical industry focuses on dye-stuffs, perfume essences and food flavourings. Thecenter of the industry is Basle. The largest pharmaceutical companies are Hoffmann-LaRoche and Novartis (formed by the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz). Thechemical and pharmaceutical industries export 85% of their output.Business abroadThe chemical industry was the first to start setting up subsidiaries abroad, originally toavoid protectionist measures imposed by foreign countries after the 1914-1918 war. Nowalmost one franc in two earned in Switzerland comes from abroad. The number of staffemployed by Swiss companies abroad rose from 890,000 in 1988 to 1.61 million in 1998,with the greatest increase being in services. A number of transnational companies havetheir headquarters in Switzerland. They cover chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machineryand foodstuffs, as well as banks and insurance companies. Switzerland has opened itselfto the process of globalisation. A study published in 2001 by the US magazine ForeignPolicy ran...
