Switzerland puts sustainable finance among top priorities for promoting image abroad
Switzerland has laid out a new strategy for promoting and safeguarding its interests abroad that includes showcasing the country as a hub for sustainable finance.
At a meeting on Friday, the Federal Council approved Switzerland's “Strategy for Communication Abroad 2021–24”, which sets priorities for the coming years in line with its foreign policy.
The five main areas of focus are: innovation, the economy, Swiss-European relations, the Swiss financial centre and sustainability.
“Promoting a positive and nuanced image of Switzerland is an important means of maintaining its global competitiveness,” the government said in a statement.
“Targeted communication initiatives can explain Switzerland's position, strengths and actions as well as promoting its interests. In this way, communication abroad contributes to an effective foreign policy.”
The government said it will work with both public and private sector partners to carry out its communications strategy. Earlier this month, it launched a new website to highlight Switzerland’s financial centre to the rest of the world, and where it set out its ambitions “to be a leading location for sustainable financial services”.
The campaign and launch of the Finance.Swiss platform bodes well too for Geneva’s financial centre and a step up in efforts to collaborate more closely with the UN and international organisations to address the challenges in sustainable development.
Among its other communications measures, a new House of Switzerland will open next year in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, one of the main neighbouring regions with which Switzerland does business.
“Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, public-private partnerships will be particularly important. Since Switzerland is an export-oriented, globally integrated economy, these partnerships will provide the means to raise Switzerland's profile in key markets.”