Florence Schurch, General Secretary of the Swiss Shipping and Trading Association (STSA), takes stock. Interview.

For historical reasons, Geneva is one of the world's major trading centers for raw materials and their transport. Before the Second World War, Switzerland already had trading companies, such as André (grain) or the Basel trading company (palm, cocoa). With the expulsion of the Egyptian Jews in 1956, cotton producers came to settle on the shores of Lake Geneva, followed by two enormous American companies, Cargill (cereals) and Philipp Brothers (minerals). The activity pays off to the canton, since it represents 17% of tax revenue from business tax

Florence Schurch, what is the impact of the crisis on your members?

Varied. It is necessary to distinguish the situation of trade in raw materials from that of maritime transport. As far as trade is concerned, for the moment, there is little evidence of the impact of the crisis. The proof, the Swiss did not have to suffer from shortages. It must also be said that traders are used to finding creative solutions in periods of instability. They are there to restore balance in the markets and in the balance of trade. It is their job, to work in times of trouble and to be able to deploy all their expertise, even when chaos reigns. Maritime transport, on the other hand, is experiencing a more difficult situation: a fair number of boats were blocked in ports when countries closed their borders and then trade decreased overall, like passenger transport.

What are the industry's challenges?

They are numerous. The basic, existential question is that of climatic changes that influence harvests, especially agricultural products, such as cereals, coffee, cocoa, etc. Store surplus goods (oil), finance sales and find new customers, pay attention to the different exchange rates and currencies that fluctuate in times of imbalance, in particular the main one in the sector, the dollar. At the same time, in Switzerland, in recent years, a number of popular initiatives have been launched, which alter the image of traders working so that citizens can benefit from consumer goods which are not grown in Switzerland and are de facto vectors of development in some African and South American countries. They teach a trade, which allows African and South American peasants to be able to live from their work and no longer be assisted. It would be colonialism to want all countries in the world to apply Swiss labor law.

Can you introduce your association?

STSA is 190 companies in Switzerland, including 90 established in Geneva, with approximately 7,500 employees in Geneva and 35,000 jobs in total in Switzerland. Our members are very varied, since they operate in energy as well as in agriculture (coffee, cocoa, cereals, cotton) and minerals. There are big companies like Cargill or Vitol, but 80% of our members are small SMEs ranging from three to twenty employees. Mark Bretton