Federal government conducts consultation on location promotion
The Federal Council has opened the consultation process for the 2028–2031 location promotion message. The aim is not only to reduce the administrative burden on SMEs, but also to promote their access to international markets. The federal government is making around CHF 400 million available for this period.
The Federal Council has opened a consultation process on the message on location promotion for the first time. According to a statement, it is set to run until 1 June 2026. The Federal Council is submitting five financing decisions to Parliament for the years 2028 to 2031, with a total volume of CHF 392.21 million. Location promotion is to be carried out through SME policy, tourism policy, regional policy, export promotion and location promotion.
The focus is on three key areas of location promotion: reducing the administrative burden on SMEs through digitalisation, facilitating SMEs’ access to international markets and, finally, strengthening the regions economically. Among other things, the expansion of the EasyGov.swiss platform will create a marketplace for digital services provided by the federal government and the cantons. With regard to international markets, the federal government supports export-oriented companies with information, advice and the use of export risk insurance. In the area of regional location promotion, the federal government supports tourist destinations and economic projects in rural areas, mountain regions and border regions.
Despite the high budget, planning shows a decline of 5.2 per cent compared with the previous period, taking into account the special Covid and recovery payments and the 2027 relief package.