Gathered for the General Meeting on 26 June this year in Neuchâtel, FH delegates greeted with pleasure news of another impending record year.

"At the end of 2007, we had already expressed our confidence in the year 2008 by announcing continued growth in exports. The five first months of the current financial year, showing an increase of 15.3% in value terms, support our forecasts. Particularly since volumes exported also continue to increase and our main markets, with the exception of Japan, are posting pleasing increases. Growth is even apparent in the United States. The watch industry is not therefore affected by the financial crisis. As a result, we are convinced that 2008 will be a good year, with results in terms of exports even better than those of 2007."

Doubts were quickly dispersed on 26 June at the Hotel Beaulac in Neuchâtel, venue of the FH General Meeting: despite the current financial turmoil, the Swiss watch industry is heading for another record year, the fifth in succession. Such at all events was the opinion expressed by the president of the association, Jean-Daniel Pasche, at the beginning of his address.

If the sector has been riding a wave of success for several years, it owes this fact firstly to its products and to a favourable economic situation. However the role of the FH in improving framework conditions on world markets has no little bearing on the matter, as pointed out by Jean-Daniel Pasche: “Fulfilling this objective takes different forms: participation in official missions, bilateral joint commissions and working groups, and also the distribution of memorandums. The areas explored are diverse: customs duties, taxes, non-tariff barriers, technical barriers, the fight against counterfeiting, regulations affecting the distribution and temporary import of products. In 2007, no fewer than 25 markets were targeted for special action on behalf of the watch industry, not to mention our involvement in WTO negotiations on the Doha cycle, as well as those concerning free trade agreements (negotiations are in progress with Japan and Gulf Cooperation Council countries). And even though the introduction of concrete and favourable solutions is sometimes a long drawn-out process, it is one that must be undertaken if we are to defend the interests of the industry.”

For the statutory part of the meeting, delegates approved the annual report and the 2007 accounts, and also the system of contributions for 2009, to which no changes were made. They also renewed the one year mandate of the auditor (Fiduco SA) and appointed the following persons to the FH Board: Thierry Straehl, Nivarox-FAR SA (Le Locle), Thierry Kenel, Breguet Montres SA (L’Abbaye), Marcel Perret, Patek Philippe Habillage (Genève), and Jean Hirt, Estoppey-Addor SA (Bienne), the first as a full member, the others as alternate members. Participants then had the pleasure of listening to Professor Hans Björn Püttgen, Director of the Energy Center of the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), who spoke about the major energy challenges of the 21st century and the positioning of Switzerland in this context.

The FH General Meeting in 2009 will be held on 25 June in Geneva.

Courtesy: Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, Switzerland

Add a comment

Posted by Jigar Gondalia on 3 July, 2008 11:28:45 AM IST #