KMU Swiss Symposium: "Future Switzerland - A Care Case?"

After no symposium could be held in Baden in the two previous years, this year's 18th symposium was characterized by the current events Ukraine and Covid. Already in the welcoming speech of the initiator of KMU Swiss, Armin Baumann, the importance of crisis management was mentioned and that it is possible to act and not react through foresight.

Overcoming crises is one of the tasks of the armed forces. Federal Councillor Viola Amherd, Head of the DDPS and thus Head of the Armed Forces, was able to draw on a wide range of current events. In her speech, she mentioned that the Armed Forces had already been challenged with subsidiary missions during the pandemic and knew how to deal with crises. The army is the insurance of a national economy and has to be increased, because the resources reach their limits during longer missions. Therefore, women would be welcome to counteract the "shortage of skilled workers". Regarding Ukraine, one should not panic, but be vigilant, Amherd said.

Claudia Thali dedicated herself to the creativity with which solutions can be found to prevent a "nursing case Switzerland". She mentioned that creativity cannot be realized by command, but by "thinking out of the box" and free spaces. According to studies, most innovations are created in the shower.

Thus, it might be appropriate to define the reforms of old-age provision under the shower. Because the current approaches to reforms do not solve the problem of demographic development, increasing life expectancy and a fixed age limit, said Prof. Dr. Aymo Brunetti in his presentation. He advocated making the retirement age more flexible and mentioned Sweden and Norway as best-practice examples.

Josef Zopp devoted his explanation to the origins of the conversion rates, highlighting the problems associated with the different conversion rates. He also described that the reduction of the current conversion rate from 6.8 to 6 percent discussed by politicians is still too high and underlined that some pension funds already apply significantly lower rates today.

The presentations were followed by a discussion on retirement planning. This was joined by Thomas Boyer, CEO of Groupe Mutuel. The conclusion was that action should be taken now. Otherwise, a bleak picture would emerge. The search for a solution that adapts flexibly and thus makes further reforms superfluous was also emphasized.

In the final block of presentations, Guido Konrad and Ernst Gisin spoke about the power of innovation to create added value for a high-price country like Switzerland and to be competitive. With the attractiveness of the company, as well as the location, the shortage of skilled workers could be counteracted. Susan Diethelm showed that a spa like Fortyseven in Bade can help to support the business location accordingly.

Around 25 exhibitors were represented in the "Wandelhallen" of the Trafo Baden, where participants could find out about products and services and, above all, network.

Looking back on the symposium, it can be said that Switzerland is still well on its way, but still has some weak points: Political mills work more slowly than economic ones - and in some cases they work against each other, which prevents rapid positive development. The Covid crisis was still handled relatively well compared to other countries, but it also showed a certain dependence on other markets. With innovations, creativity and flexibility, some things can be cushioned.