The future of location promotion in the canton of Zurich

Samuel Mösle has headed the Canton of Zurich's location promotion department together with Markus Müller since January 2024. In this interview, he talks about location development, innovation promotion and the challenges of expensive housing. He also explains how digitalization and AI should strengthen Zurich as a business location.

Together with Markus Müller, you have been co-heading the location promotion of the Canton of Zurich for over 15 months.
What insights have you gained?
Zurich stands out within Switzerland due to its economic size. This also means that we are not only heavily involved in cantonal issues, but are also active on the national and, in some cases, international stage. For example, we promote Switzerland as an AI location or share our findings on AI applications in the economy with international partners.

At the same time, I find the close cooperation between business, science and administration as well as politics to be expedient when it comes to creating sustainably attractive framework conditions.

Could you give us a brief overview of the current priorities of location promotion in the Canton of Zurich?
The central focal points are:

As just mentioned, the development of attractive, long-term location factors. Through close dialog with business and science, we identify trends at an early stage and provide targeted impetus for location development.

Promoting innovation and strengthening our key sectors of finance, ICT, life science, food, clean and high-tech.

Maintaining and strengthening the diversity of the industry structure. In this context, we also support companies that want to locate here – from the search for a location to obtaining permits.

Our projects, programs and initiatives are based on these three pillars.

What are the long-term visions of the cantonal location promotion department with regard to location development?
The attractiveness of a business location depends on a number of different location factors. These range from target group-friendly regulations and digital government services to strong innovative power and the sustainable design of economic areas.we are pursuing the goal of being an attractive, leading and future-oriented innovation and business location with international appeal for companies and the population.

Zurich is one of the most expensive places to live in the world. The high real estate prices and rents are also becoming an increasing burden for companies. What can location promotion do about this?
We are committed at various levels not only to the attractiveness and prosperity of the economic area, but also to a high-quality and excellent quality of life. In this respect, the availability of living space also plays a role. One concrete application can be found, for example, in our Innovation Sandbox for artificial intelligence. In the current phase, we are supporting the use of AI in planning applications. We hope that the results will help us to find ways of reducing the building backlog and streamlining the building permit process.

Housing subsidies are also located at official level. It promotes the provision of affordable rental apartments with attractive loans.

The ageing population is affecting the real estate sector and the labor market. What significance does this fact have for the canton of Zurich and how can you respond to it?
The topic of demographic shifts and the widening labor market gap has been on our minds for some time at various levels. Over the next few years, many experienced workers will retire – this will increase the competition for talent.

On the one hand, we are working on various projects in the area of recruiting and retaining skilled workers and labor market participation. At the same time, we are currently developing new overarching approaches to demographics that will have a longer-term impact. One thing is clear: tackling the challenge of demography must be approached from a systemic perspective, meaning that many parties and stakeholders need to be brought to the table.

How do you see the role of the canton in the Greater Zurich Area economic region?
The Greater Zurich Area is one of the most innovative business locations in Europe – and the canton of Zurich plays a central role in this. As a leading innovation location, we create the framework conditions that companies need to develop successfully. Ultimately, the other cantons within the Greater Zurich Area also benefit from our strong position.

As the economic engine of Switzerland, the Canton of Zurich is also the largest provider of funds for the Greater Zurich Area as a business location. At the same time, our Chief Executive Officer, Government Councillor Walker Späh, is President of the Board of Trustees of the Greater Zurich Area Business Location. The Canton of Zurich is also actively represented in the Greater Zurich Area economic region by the two cities of Winterthur and Zurich. This allows us to optimally represent our interests and coordinate the activities of the Greater Zurich Area as a business location with our own.

How does the cooperation with other cantons within the Greater Zurich Area business location work?
What joint projects are currently underway?
Cooperation within the organization of the Greater Zurich Area business location focuses primarily on issues relating to relocation. We work very closely with other cantons in various other constellations and committees. For example, in the Zurich metropolitan area, but also on a smaller spatial level, such as in the Limmat Valley. However, not all cantons are always members of the Greater Zurich Area business location.

Current cooperation projects include the 2nd phase of the Innovation Sandbox for Artificial Intelligence, which also includes the aforementioned building permit project, and the repositioning of the Limmatstadt regional location promotion program, in which we are thinking beyond the cantonal borders in functional areas and looking for solutions.

Redaktion: Christoph Grüniger, Bild: zVg.