There have been several wars in Europe and from the very early days itself. The two great unfortunate World Wars notwithstanding, which anyways were in the recent past- think of it, just seven decades back in the day- the enigmatic continent has been quiet a bloodied battlefield. It’s been the playground of chivalry as well misery, mounting death tolls and battle for territorial supremacy, especially when you think of the great wars of the past, such as the Rose Wars, The French Wars of Religion, the English Civil War, Napoleonic wars and whatnot!
But even then, there’s been one country that never found itself under attack and that was deliberately so. Switzerland. The country that has an exceedingly lot more happening than things like the greatest quality of milk or milk-based chocolates, the great divine-in-taste Rosti, the Jersey cows with beautiful bells around their neck or simply put, the snow-peaked mountainous regions that enthral and inspire in equal measure.
Whenever the talk concerns Switzerland and comes down to the fact that why it has never really been attacked or put to great ruin, think of countries like Germany, France, Russia et cetera in the face of the torrid Second World War, everyone’s finger points to one direction.
Economic Times
It’s the fact that much of the world’s ‘Black Money,’ has for the longest time, been parked here in the mesmerisingly beautiful land-locked Alpine country.
Some of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, leading billionaires, changemakers, thought leaders and what have you have all parked their monies into the famous Swiss banks.
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But where it stands at the moment, it’s becoming all too evident that the Swiss banks themselves want to introduce a change in perception. They want an entire shift in the way the world thinks of them and conceives them as being havens for tax, being the smooth coffers to safeguard what is often illegally-earned money.
And this change has now become a need of the hour, truth be told, from the perspective of the Swiss banks who are thinking boldly about an image makeover especially for start-ups.
The same logic will be applied for those start-ups that come from India or hail from India.
No longer the land of black money or illicitly earned money but a prudent, positive, forward-looking zone that supports creativity and entrepreneurship.
But the key question here is- how is Switzerland going to bat for this change. What is it going to actually do about it all? To conceive a new ideology or thought process is all fine, but what course of action do you take to ensure that the thought is executed into a tightly governed course of action.
Here’s what you need to know. The following inputs were taken from a story published on The Economic Times:
The alpine nation, famous for its banks that are allegedly used to park ill-gotten wealth, is high on technology in various sectors, experts said. Startups then can be instrumental in charting the country’s future economic growth trajectory.
According to a statement from the Swiss government, the Federal Council has asked the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research to examine the country’s startup ecosystem. While this ecosystem is generally in good shape, there is room for improvement in a number of areas, including technology transfer, internationalisation, access to skilled labour and financing.
The Federal Council has now tasked the EAER and the Federal Department of Justice and Police to examine further measures in these areas in greater detail.
The findings are expected to be presented in June 2022.
So, can a new thriving Switzerland, one that’s pro-entrepreneurship and anti-black money become a thing for real?