O ther clusters
With a multitude of NGOs and agencies, world-class trading operations, a centre for finance, sustainable energy options and leading flavour and fragrance companies, Geneva may be THE international city. Unparalleled opportunities for prof
Cleantech Geneva is a thriving cleantech hub, home to key stakeholders in the field of the environment and sustainability. Top research universities and labs, international organisations and NGOs and innovative companies in the field are playing a key part in Switzerland’s commitment to produce 50 per cent of Swiss energy from renewable sources by 2030. Switzerland leads the way in sustainable energy options: solar power (Genève Aéroport has a solar field that is the largest in Europe, based on a technology developed at CERN in Geneva), wind turbines, biomass, bio-diesel, bio-gas, thermal engineering and hydraulics. Geneva’s cleantech cluster hosts companies backed by global players such as ABB Sécheron, DuPont de Nemours and Sunpower Systems. Start-ups and local companies such as Cleanfizz or TVP Solar are carefully nurtured, able to count on the support and creativity of various institutions for their development. Training programmes, applied research, tech transfer and coaching are available, together with outstanding competences from hepia (the University of Applied Sciences), the University of Geneva, CERN and SIG (Industrial Services of Geneva). Geneva also hosts key events in the cleantech sector such as the European Future Energy Forum.
Banking and finance The birthplace of asset-management, Switzerland has long been synonymous with banking. Geneva’s financial sector, most famously its private banks, has built a reputation for reliability and confidentiality. Today, Geneva’s financial sector includes 104 banks, of which 46 are foreign-owned. The volume of assets under management in Switzerland is CHF 6,651 billions, which represents 25 per cent of all assets under cross-border management worldwide. The Geneva Economic Cluster also comprises companies providing infrastructure to financial institutions, as well as software developers and other product and service providers. Adaptive and innovative, Geneva is looking ahead to the changes that technology is bringing to the financial sector. The Geneva Financial Centre (GFC) is active in the independent association Swiss FinTech Innovations and promotes related events. Geneva represents itself as a hub for sustainable finance and financial technologies (fintech), investing continuously in transformational aspects of finance such as the impact of blockchain and artificial intelligence on cybersecurity, as a major differentiating factor. The financial sector generates 35,600 jobs and accounts for 12 per cent of Geneva's GDP.
Watchmaking and luxury goods
Swiss watchmakers have been the world’s leaders of the industry over the past four centuries. Geneva leads the field in terms of excellence and craftsmanship. The suburb of Plan-les-Ouates (nicknamed Plan-les-Watch) has become a district devoted almost entirely to fine timepieces. Companies such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Piaget, Baume & Mercier, Frederique Constant, Alpina and Vacheron Constantin combine old world craftsmanship with state-of-the-art computer-aided design and precision machinery. Founded in 1839, the Geneva-based family company Patek Philippe created the three most complicated timepieces ever created. One of which, the ‘Supercomplication’, sold at auction in 1999 for 11 million US dollars, the highest price ever paid for a watch. Geneva is also famed as a centre of luxury goods. Not only is it home to the finest fashion stores - 90 per cent of the most prestigious brands are represented - but some of the top companies have their world or European headquarters here. Among them, Geneva-based Richemont, one of the world’s leading luxury goods groups and a true showcase of the excellence of its industrial know-how abroad, includes several of the most prestigious names in the industry including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Alfred Dunhill and Montblanc. The luxury industry is the third largest employer sector and responsible for 70 per cent of the Canton’s exports.
XIV geneva 2018
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