Cai Yingbo

YOUNG Shenzhen companies with great potential are welcome to set up their headquarters in Switzerland, Werner E. Nievergelt, consul general of Swiss Consulate in Guangzhou, said in Shenzhen yesterday.

“We are impressed with the development of Shenzhen enterprises, which have great potential for growth in the international market,” said Nievergelt after a seminar at Wuzhou Guest House yesterday. He said enterprises with R&D capabilities were most welcome.

Nievergelt was on his second trip to the city in a week, after attending the opening session of the annual Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress as a foreign observer Thursday.

“I’m very confident with Shenzhen after hearing the mayor’s report, which set its goal to learn and catch up with Singapore and Hong Kong,” said Nievergelt. “Singapore is actually the Asian Switzerland, and Zurich, the commercial center of Switzerland, can be regarded as Hong Kong in Europe, which has more than 1,000 regional and global headquarters and thousands of trading offices of foreign companies.”

Nievergelt said Shenzhen was unique in the world for its fast growth.

“Switzerland is a platform for international market. The most attractive advantage for international companies is its moderate taxation compared with other countries in Europe,” said Nievergelt, a career diplomat since 1970.

Even though rents and salaries are high in Switzerland, the overall cost in that country is not high compared with other countries in Europe, according to Nievergelt. He added the country had a good location, a variety of cultures, a sound capital market mechanism and an excellent education system.