Geneva, a global economic platform

If Geneva’s geographical situation at the crossroads of Europe historically favoured the development of its banking tradition, the different advantages underpinning its economic attractiveness have enabled it to reach the very peak of global competitiveness.

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Le bâtiment des forces motrices et la place financière éclairés au crépuscule.

Geneva displays clear assets for a globally-active company including an ideal location, a multicultural tradition, an infrastructure worthy of a major city, an international airport close to the centre, highly-skilled and multilingual labour and stable institutions to name but a few. As proof of this attractiveness, the last federal census showed that some 754 foreign multinationals and 177 Swiss multinationals have already established their head office in the Canton of Geneva. More broadly speaking, Geneva benefits from an extremely favourable economic context if we take into account the fact that Switzerland has been at the very top of the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness ranking since 2009 and of the INSEAD-WIPO global innovation index since 2010.

Innovation and technical excellence

A high-performance tertiary sector and a reduced but highly-specialised industrial sector guarantee a dynamic and innovative set-up. The quality of higher education and the excellent research institutes also benefit from the vibrancy of Geneva’s economy, with the academic world working in close cooperation with the business sector.

Geneva is currently home to over 600 companies active in the fields of research, development or the manufacturing of products in sectors displaying high value added. Accordingly, the very best talents and technologies inherent to such disciplines as chemistry, watchmaking, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, biotechnologies, medical technologies and precision engineering, to name but a few, converge on Geneva. In Geneva, the birthplace of the World Wide Web in 1989, the information and communication technologies sector has also enjoyed strong growth, in particular in the field of IT security.

Finance and trade

Boasting a strong banking tradition dating back five hundred years, Geneva is now one of the leading financial hubs in the world. Born in Geneva, wealth management is thus one of the city’s specialities which continues to develop thanks to the dynamic approach of over 120 banking institutions, management banks, universal banks, commercial establishments, cantonal banks, private bankers and 3,200 financial intermediaries active across the territory. The sector employs more than 36,000 people and can call on a dense network of wealth managers, notaries, lawyers, accountants and other professionals in the fields of insurance, auditing, revision and financial consulting.

While Geneva was one of Europe’s main trading centres in the mid-15th century, it has grown into one of the leading global trading hubs for raw materials (agricultural products, metals and energy resources).

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Article modifié le 05.02.2024 à 11:57