Tokyo (SCCIJ) – For the third year in a row, Switzerland has secured the top spot in PwC Global’s location ranking for family businesses. The ‘EMEA Private Business Attractiveness Index’ examines their framework conditions in 33 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Swiss family companies see their country as a perfect location to do business (Image: Pixabay).
A pioneering barometer
The ‘EMEA Private Business Attractiveness Index’ is used by family entrepreneurs, executives from the private and public sectors as well as policymakers as an indicator of their country’s attractiveness as a location for family businesses.
In Switzerland in particular, whose economy is largely driven by family businesses and small and medium enterprises, the index can act as an objective benchmark and barometer for pioneering decisions. Family businesses choose their countries of domicile not merely based on their financial strength but also because of their commitment to universal growth.
“Switzerland combines entrepreneurship, innovative technologies, and the skills of people for the benefit of companies. This makes us a winner both in terms of attractiveness as a location and as a hub for successful family businesses,” says Norbert Kühnis, Head of Family Businesses and SMEs at PwC Switzerland, the company behind the index production.
Conditions for entrepreneurship
In the overall ranking across all categories, Switzerland is the undisputed leader again, followed by Sweden and Germany. With a score of 73.1, the country exceeded its record from the previous year by 1.2 points.
Switzerland leads the ‘Private business landscape’ category. This category covers the large private companies that operate in the country, the dynamics of trading activities, and the level of foreign direct investment. The top-ranking countries in this category have a proven track record of promoting, building, and sustaining vibrant entrepreneurship.
The country occupies also the leading position in the ‘Education, skills and talent’ category. Additionally, Switzerland ranks second in the ‘Start-up ecosystem’ category. Key figures, such as the number of start-ups, the number of founders, the number of unicorns, the innovation index, and the success rate of start-up investments come into play in this category.
Transparency and certainty
Switzerland scored another second place in the ‘Tax and regulatory environment’ category. “The Swiss legislator has adjusted corporate taxation to meet international requirements, which ensures transparency and certainty. Both are important features that make Switzerland stand out as a place to do business,” says Monica Cohan-Dumani, Foreign Based Companies Market Segment Leader, Tax and Legal Services at PwC Switzerland.
The EMEA Private Business Attractiveness Index ranks countries according to their tax and regulatory regime, access to skilled workers and talent, sustainability behavior, public health, education, technology, and infrastructure as well as their start-up ecosystem. The full ranking and detailed information can be found here.
Text: PwC Switzerland (Editing by SCCIJ)
