Around 265 foreign-owned businesses set up operations in Switzerland last year, leading to the creation of 1,199 jobs during their first year in the country.

The number of new overseas companies is generally consistent with the last few years, a trend that was comparatively unaffected by the pandemic.

Earlier this week, the Conference of Cantonal Economic Directors said the group of companies that established a presence in Switzerland in 2022 are planning to create an additional 3,100 jobs over the next three years, Swiss Info reports.

The majority of the new companies are within the information and communication technology and life sciences sectors. 

The cantons of Switzerland, which have autonomy over local tax and infrastructure decisions, not only compete with one another but also compete with other countries as destinations for regional headquarters or branches of foreign-owned businesses. 

Switzerland was forced to amend its tax code back in 2019 following European Union criticisms that the previous system distorted competition, the Swiss Info report goes on to say. Under the regime, these firms lost their so-called “special status”, permitting them to pay less tax than Swiss firms, but remained able to cut costs by claiming deductions on research and development spending and income from patents.

In addition, Switzerland’s government has agreed to take part in a global plan to introduce a minimum rate of corporate tax. It was reported earlier this year that the OECD/G20 tax reform includes a minimum tax of 15% for all firms with a turnover exceeding an annual €750 million. The government said around 2,000 companies in the country would be impacted.

However, despite these changes, findings from a recent study by PwC showed Switzerland remained attractive to foreign companies. The canton of Zug offers the most attractive corporate tax rate in Switzerland at 11.85%, followed by Nidwalden at 11.97% and Lucerne at 12.2%.