Real Estate Summit 2020 was very well received

Keynote speaker Sigmar Gabriel, German politician and newly elected member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank, spoke about "Europe in an uncomfortable world". According to Gabriel, we are currently experiencing a real cold war between the US and China. Europe, he said, was in danger of becoming irrelevant against the backdrop of emerging markets in Asia, the technological world power of the USA and Russian military power with permanent cyber attacks. Moreover, Donald Trump is trying to split NATO's security pact. Europe, he said, must summon the will to cooperate together and dare to face the future.

Switzerland's development speaks for the fact that the path this country has taken so far was the right one. Equally true, he said, "Switzerland has developed so well precisely because of its close and relaxed relationship with the EU." If there were better alternatives, the Swiss could leave this path - but he could think of no such alternatives. Asked by moderator Miriam Rickli who would emerge victorious in the race for world power, Gabriel promptly replies: No one, certainly not Europe.

No real estate crisis in sight

Will the current recession trigger a real estate crisis? Asked hard by the moderator, economic historian Tobias Straumann said: "In the next one to two years, the probability of a real estate crisis is zero percent."

To the most pressing question of when flight operations would return to pre-Corona levels, Daniel Scheifele, chief real estate officer and member of Zurich Airport's executive board, replied, "We expect the same or higher flight movements again in 2024 or 2025."

Built to Build

Created to build: Implenia CEO André Wyss explained how a leading multinational construction services provider is created. With 10,000 employees, Implenia turns over 4.4 billion Swiss francs (2019 figures). The order backlog is around 150 percent of annual sales. According to Wyss, there are great opportunities for the construction industry: due to megatrends such as urbanization and increasing mobility and infrastructure needs. "The construction industry is the world's largest industry, accounting for 13 percent of global GDP," Wyss said, underlining the importance of his industry.

Corona pandemic as a game changer

The Corona pandemic is a game changer, said Christine Novakovic, CEO of UBS Europe. Every crisis is also an opportunity. The word "normally" no longer applies, she said. "Uncertainty has become more than ever our constant companion." The challenges of the new world are called: Covid-19, economic collapse, monetary stability, sovereign debt, maximum uncertainty, protectionism and nationalism, low interest rates. Novakovic concluded, "Our new world will be more digital, less global and more indebted."

Romeo Deplazes, Division Manager Solutions and member of the Executive Board of Energie 360°, spoke about success factors for integral energy and mobility solutions. Deplazes promised: "We are transforming our company and supplying exclusively renewable energy by 2050."

Zurich airport region remains boom region

The "shift of global economic power" to Asia will continue even after the peak of the coronavirus crisis, according to Rudolf Tschopp, partner at Asia Green Real Estate. In Asia, real estate markets are primarily driven by sustained economic growth, urbanization and the growing middle class, he said.

In his opening address, the newly elected FRZ President André Ingold discussed pioneering construction projects in the airport region. Around twenty major construction projects (usually with a construction sum of well over 100 million Swiss francs) are either in the planning stage, under construction or nearing completion. As an example, he mentioned the newly planned Steinacker district in Kloten. Along the Glattalbahn, a colorful urban area is to be created with 6,700 inhabitants and a further 4,000 employees.

The 7th Real Estate Summit will be held at Samsung Hall on June 24, 2021.