Greater Zurich Area
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The European Metropolitan Region of Zurich (EMRZ), also Greater Zurich Area (GZA, German Zürcher Wirtschaftsraum, Metropolregion Zürich), the metropolitan area surrounding Zürich, is one of Europe’s economically strongest areas and Switzerland’s economic centre. It comprises the area that can be reached within a roughly 90-minute drive from Zurich Airport. Home to a many international companies, it includes most of the Canton of Zürich, and stretches as far as the Aargau and Solothurn in the West, Thurgau, St. Gallen and parts of Grisons in the East, Schaffhausen in the North and Zug and parts of Schwyz and Glarus in the South. Roughly three million people live in the area.
Numerous Swiss and international corporations are based in the area, profiting from benefits such as
- the low tax rate
- the low cost of doing business, excellent infrastructure
- the high quality of life
- the dominant financial sector Zürich
The Greater Zurich Area AG, a nonprofit organization, is the marketing association for the Greater Zurich Area business region. It recruits international companies abroad and assists them with setting up companies and making investments in the Greater Zurich Area. Its sponsor is the Stiftung Greater Zurich Area Standortmarketing, a public-private partnership that was established in November 1998. Since that time, its membership has grown to include the cantons of Aargau, Glarus, Grisons, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn and Zürich, the cities of Zürich and Winterthur, and several businesses.
[edit] Key figures
- Population Greater Zurich Area: 3.2 million
- Area: 12,920 km² (5600 mi²)
- GDP per capita: CHF 65,000 (USD 50,000)
- Work force: 1.3 million
- Languages: German, English, French, Italian
- Number of companies: 140,000
Important Industries:
- Banking, Insurance, Financial Services
- Biotechnology, Life Sciences, Medical Technologies
- Information and Communication Technologies ICT
- Hightech, Microtech and Nanotech
- Services
- Prime location for R&D, academic research
[edit] References
- Greater Zurich Area AG
- Ralph Etter, Appenzell als Teil der "Greater Zurich Area" – Chancen, Risiken und Handlungsansätze (2003) [1]
- Zürcher Wirtschaftsförderung unter der Lupe, Neue Zürcher Zeitung 26 October 2006.[2]
- Patrick Dümmler, Alain Thierstein, The European metropolitan region of Zurich : a cluster of economic clusters?, ETH Zurich, Institute for National, Regional and Local Planning, Chair of Spatial Development, 2002[3]
