New alliance for international location marketing
The canton of Aargau wants to rejoin the Greater Zurich Area (GZA) location marketing organisation. For the first six years of renewed membership, the cantonal government is requesting CHF 8.5 million. This will cover the membership fee and two additional positions required at the GZA.
The canton of Aargau is preparing to rejoin the Greater Zurich Area. The canton first joined the location marketing organisation between 2007 and 2010, the cantonal administration explains in a press release. At that time, however, the canton of Aargau was hardly able to achieve any success in attracting new business, partly due to different focal points. Today, however, the strategic orientation of GZA and the business location of Aargau “fit together very well”, the press release explains. At the beginning of the year, the canton therefore applied for renewed membership of the GZA.
Specifically, location promotion is currently focussing on innovative sectors that are also important for the canton of Aargau. The press release cites life sciences, automation and digital tech as examples. According to the press release, the canton of Aargau, which has hardly been active in foreign marketing to date, has decided to join the GZA as it is “more cost-efficient and less risky than setting up its own foreign marketing”.
Funds totalling CHF 8.5 million are required for the first period of new membership in the GZA from 2027 to 2032. This will cover the membership fee and the costs of two additional positions required at the GZA. The canton also plans to invest a further CHF 4.5 million in the years 2028 to 2032 to promote the location of so-called potential areas. The aim here is to support associations of groups of municipalities with economic potential with joint professional location promotion.