Swiss biz hub promotes trade and investment

SWITZERLAND Global Enterprise (S-GE), which operates an active Swiss Business Hub here in Singapore as the official Swiss organisation for trade and investment promotion, has a special focus on helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Simone Wyss Fedele, chief executive officer of S-GE, says: "We support Swiss SMEs with their international business and global companies that want to establish themselves in Switzerland as a leading innovation and technology location in Europe. Together with our partners, we support Swiss SMEs throughout the entire process of their internationalisation, providing them with the information, services and contacts relevant at each stage."

Working closely with other economic promotion agencies at regional and canton level, S-GE's aim is to attract to Switzerland global companies and in doing so it supports them with information, services and contacts in Switzerland. In addition to its offices in Switzerland, S-GE has branches in over 27 countries called Swiss Business Hubs.

"We operate them together with the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and they are generally embedded in Swiss embassies and consulates. Our Swiss Business Hub team in Singapore, which is responsible for the entire Asean region, is doing a fantastic job, also thanks to the valuable support of Swiss Ambassador to Singapore Fabrice Filliez," Ms Wyss tells The Business Times in an interview.

As the new CEO of S-GE, she has brought new perspectives and directions to the organisation. "I stand for a consistent customer orientation, for a one-team philosophy and for the ambition to give our very best every day to our customers, together with our partners. To achieve this, S-GE builds on four strategic success factors: Our top priority is to focus all our activities consistently on providing benefits to our customers. To this end, we systematically use digital technologies and are constantly developing our partner and global network according to the needs of our customers.

"What has been very important to me since I started this job was to strengthen our awareness that we - our bases in Switzerland, our global network and our worldwide partners - are one team with one mission and one joint success. Given the constantly changing global environment, I am also convinced that it is crucial that we are a learning organisation."

What is particularly good for S-GE in having Ms Wyss as its chief is that she is an expert on internationalisation issues with her rich and varied experience in working internationally in business and politics throughout her career.

"My previous professional experience with globally operating companies is indeed an advantage for my current job. At companies such as Helvetia Insurance, Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Novartis, I have introduced products in over 30 markets worldwide - from product strategy to market analysis and the evaluation of local partnerships. Back at Novartis, I was also charged with the management of the euro crisis, an experience that was very valuable in dealing with the current Covid-19 crisis. This background, together with the experience of my management team, enables us as an organisation to make the right decisions," says Ms Wyss.

In recent months, the support of its customers during the Covid-19 crisis was a key focus of S-GE's team in Singapore. Just before the outbreak of Covid-19, S-GE signed a landmark memorandum of understanding with Alibaba Cloud providing for cooperation in the field of e-commerce. The aim of the cooperation is to show Swiss SMEs how they can leverage Alibaba's platforms and leadership for distribution in Asean.

"The team in Singapore also supports Swiss SMEs in their search for local partners and organises Swiss pavilions at important trade fairs, such as the Singapore Fintech Festival and the Singapore Airshow. Finally, the team is the first point of contact for innovative global companies from the Asean region interested in evaluating Switzerland as their business location in Europe," says Ms Wyss.

The S-GE chief says that Switzerland and Singapore can still further their bilateral business and economic cooperation despite the changing global business climate.

"Since the financial crisis, we have globally seen a constant increase in protectionist trade barriers, a development that is further intensified by the current Covid-19 crisis. In times like these, it is up to small, highly foreign trade-dependent countries like Singapore and Switzerland to set a good example by maintaining open markets and speaking out in favour of multilateral trade, as both countries have done at the WTO.

"It is important for us to mitigate and prevent potential supply chain disruptions arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and demonstrate the benefits of an open world trading system. It would thus be a welcome development if Singapore and Switzerland could further deepen their dialogue on that front," says Ms Wyss.

Meanwhile, S-GE itself has been quick to modify its work strategy due to the Covid-19 situation as it feels that as an organisation, it is crucial in such a phase to have the necessary agility to support customers according to their needs. When the first Covid-19 wave gradually hit the world, it immediately moved its worldwide activities wherever possible to digital channels.

"During the first acute crisis phase, we supported our customers in troubleshooting and stabilising their value chains. In the meantime, international business has normalised somewhat, with many markets re-opening again. In this current catch-up phase, the focus is on optimising the value chain, which presents a great opportunity for countries like Singapore," Ms Wyss says.

"We also support our customers wherever they still face obstacles to international business. For example, we undertake various on-site assessments for our clients when travel restrictions continue to make physical visits impossible. We also organise online alternatives for customer or partner meetings, workshops and even trade fair participations. Thanks to new digital formats and our local teams, we can ensure that our clients get back on the market as quickly as possible."

Asked to comment on some expert views that there will be a swing away from internationalisation as countries may look inwards in the new global environment, she says that such a development is indeed one of the risks of this crisis, especially for small, strongly export-oriented countries such as Singapore and Switzerland.

"However, from a business location perspective, this development can also represent an opportunity: innovative, globally-oriented corporations will continue to set up regional offices in the US, Asia and Europe in order to ensure access to their most important sales markets and to the best talent, partners and business clusters.

"As leading technology and innovation hubs in Asia and Europe, Singapore and Switzerland are already a natural choice for global innovation leaders. If other countries now seal themselves off as a result of the crisis, the attractiveness of our open and stable business locations will continue to increase," she adds.