Review 67th Swiss Real Estate Conference
The 67th Swiss Real Estate Talk on February 16, 2017 at the Metropol restaurant in Zurich dealt with the topic "How does Switzerland remain competitive?". This was a controversial topic on the panel - especially after the rejection of the Corporate Tax Reform III (CTR III).
Marc Rudolf, Director of the Economic Development Corporation Greater Zurich Area, began by pointing out that Switzerland was one of the most attractive locations in the world, but that in Europe alone it was competing with more than a dozen other metropolitan regions to attract companies. The most important factors for the country are legal certainty, predictability and reliability, as well as the "availability of talent," Rudolf said. In the real estate market, he cited the long planning periods, for example for rezoning projects, as one of the obstacles. On the positive side, however, he said that Switzerland was able to make up for the negative factor of high labor costs with many other market components.
Markus Mettler, CEO of Halter AG, also diagnosed Switzerland's "high competitiveness. At the same time, however, he also attested to "poisoned economic growth" in the Confederation, as the core value-creating industries in particular were cutting jobs at an accelerated rate. Mettler, on the other hand, sees real growth only in the state or para-state sector. For example, he criticized that staffing levels in public administrations had recently been greatly increased. This is accompanied by an increased regulatory frenzy in the construction and real estate market. Only a few companies were rebelling against this. "I fear that after 16 years of a construction boom, many players have simply become sluggish," Mettler concluded.
Finally, Josef Wiederkehr, a building contractor and member of the Zurich Cantonal Council, called for more representatives of the construction and real estate industry in the Federal Council to represent the interests of the guild there, but also to improve Switzerland's competitiveness in an international context. The failure of the CTR III at the ballot box shows that a lot of educational work is still needed. The panelists agreed that a reformulation would probably take several years.
- The next Swiss Real Estate Talk will take place on May 2 at the Metropol Restaurant in Zurich. The topic will be announced shortly.
Here you can download the presentations of the speakers:
Marc Rudolf, Greater Zurich Area
