How much Switzerland does a globalised industry really need?

Companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences industries conduct research, manufacture and sell their products around the world. They invest where the conditions are right, talent is available, processes work and innovation pays off. Switzerland is an important location, but it is not the only option. I could end this article here. Fortunately, the reality is more nuanced. 

The crucial question in reverse 

Let us turn the question around: how much industry does Switzerland need if it wants to secure its prosperity and remain competitive internationally? Industry creates highly skilled jobs, invests in research and development, trains skilled workers and makes a substantial contribution to exports and tax revenues. Switzerland therefore has a strong interest in remaining an attractive location for industrial value creation in the future. 

The global presence of companies makes the quality of a location more relevant, not less. Investment decisions are made by comparing locations internationally. And a location’s appeal is not created by one major political decision. It is the sum of individual framework conditions. 

The sum of individual decisions matters 

This is precisely where my concern is growing, because there are many examples of developments heading in the wrong direction. When companies have to incinerate wastewater because of water protection limits, this is questionable not only from a business perspective but also from an environmental one. The counter-proposal to the Responsible Business Initiative 2.0 also shows how quickly good intentions can turn into a disadvantage for Switzerland as a business location. Taking responsibility for human rights and the environment is a given. But a uniquely Swiss approach with additional liability, due diligence and reporting obligations does not produce a greater impact. It does, however, create additional work, uncertainty and costs. Infrastructure policy, too, is ultimately a matter of Switzerland’s attractiveness as a business location. When SBB Cargo closes single-wagonload service points, production and logistics chains planned over the long term are put at risk. In the worst case, goods can no longer be transported economically and can therefore no longer be produced at the existing location, or transport shifts from rail to road. 

For the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries, the US demand for the application of the most-favoured-nation (MFN) principle to medicine prices raises questions about the price the Swiss public will be willing to pay for access to innovative medicines in the future and how Switzerland can remain an attractive location for research and production. The life sciences working group established by the Federal Council is seeking solutions together with industry. 

Speaking plainly is not a threat 

None of these issues alone will decide the future of Switzerland as an industrial location. Taken together, however, they will help determine where companies invest in the future. When industry speaks openly about these connections, its statements are often interpreted as a threat. To me, that is a far too narrow view. The aim is not to make decisions on behalf of policymakers. Political decisions must weigh up different interests and competing objectives. That is precisely why transparency is needed about the consequences a regulation, a limit or a new requirement can have in complex economic systems. 

Companies have a responsibility to state these consequences clearly. Policymakers have a responsibility to assess them and then decide to the best of their knowledge and judgement. Freedom of decision and speaking plainly are not mutually exclusive. 

So how much Switzerland does a global industry need? Perhaps less than we would like. How much industry does Switzerland need? Probably more than we sometimes care to admit. Industry has alternatives. So does Switzerland. But both come at a price. That makes it all the more important to know what that price is before decisions are made. 

This article was first published on 30 October 2026 by Fokus Swiss Online, the magazine of the Smart Media Agency, and in the print edition of BILANZ.