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| Swiss Bankers Day 2005 in Zurich – Please get involved! |
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Basel/Zurich, 15 September 2005 – The 92nd General Assembly of the Swiss
Bankers Association (SBA) took place today in Zurich. Some 400 bankers and guests from Swiss economic,
political, governmental, association and media circles attended the annual event also known as “Swiss
Bankers Day”. Guests also included ambassadors from over 20 foreign countries.
In a motivating
speech SBA Chairman Pierre Mirabaud called on his fellow-bankers to get involved once again in politics
and not to leave the field open to the supporters of the political left and right. The traditional address
on behalf of the government was delivered by Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey.
Under
the slogan of “Please get involved!“, Pierre Mirabaud used his presidential speech to strike back at
the latest sweeping accusations made against the country’s business and economic leaders. Mr. Mirabaud
said that criticism of the globalised economy was very short-sighted and reminded critics that prosperity
first had to be produced before it could be distributed. He went on to say that Switzerland would remain
successful in the future only if it succeeded in concentrating on its strengths such as stability, flexibility,
innovativeness and international outlook and in freeing itself from the “all-risks-insured“ mentality
currently rampant particularly in the core of Europe. Mr. Mirabaud warned of the danger of Switzerland
getting bogged down in ideological trench warfare instead of tackling important pending problems. He
appealed to his fellow-bankers to get more involved in politics once again and to take up the tradition
of Switzerland’s great busi-ness and economic leaders active in the latter half of the last century.
However, Mr. Mir-abaud also made it clear that today’s generation of business leaders should not let
the monthly return on equity be the measure of all things. There had to be a stronger com-mitment to
the common good again if the economy was to remain an important voice in politics. Mr. Mirabaud concluded
his speech by again spelling out the reasons behind the banks’ commitment to winning acceptance in the
forthcoming vote on the extension of the Free Movement of Persons Agreement to the new EU member states.
In this regard he criticised the efforts being made in some circles to set entrepreneurs and managers
against each other and summed up his concern as follows: “Suddenly we will have a multitude of opinions
where unanimity is needed. The ones standing on the sidelines laughing are those people who in the long
run will certainly not pursue our ideal of a liberal, prosperous economic system.
The
traditional address on behalf of the government was delivered by Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey.
Note
to journalists
PDF The full text of Mr. Mirabaud’s speech.
| Contacts |
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| Thomas Sutter |
James Nason |
| Head of Communications Switzerland |
Head of International Communications |
Swiss Bankers Association,
Basel |
Swiss Bankers Association,
Basel |
| Tel. +41 61 295 92 06 |
Tel. +41 61 295 92 15 |
| Fax +41 61 272 53 82 |
Fax +41 61 272 53 82 |
 www.swissbanking.org |
www.swissbanking.org |
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Junior
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