Switzerland may be best known as a centre for banking and finance, but an important and growing strand to its economy is the number of multinational companies setting up their European headquarters in the country, which is rapidly becoming a flood.
Earlier this month, Kraft Foods announced its intention to relocate its European headquarters from London and Vienna to Switzerland, where it will join a host of multinational giants, including General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, Pfizer and Cisco. Gallaher International will swiftly follow if the current takeover bid by Japan Tobacco is successful and, in all, more than 1,000 foreign companies have regional headquarters in Switzerland.
