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On the margins of the 2026 WEF Annual Meeting, President Guy Parmelin met with more than a dozen heads of state and government for extended bilateral talks. This year, there was a particular focus on issues relating to global trade and Switzerland's bilateral trade relations.

À l’occasion de sa présence au World Economic Forum (WEF) à Davos, le conseiller fédéral Ignazio Cassis, chef du Département fédéral des affaires étrangères (DFAE), a placé au centre de ses échanges la sécurité et la stabilité en Europe et au Moyen Orient, la coopération multilatérale ainsi que la présidence suisse de l’Organisation pour la sécurité et la coopération en Europe (OSCE).

Worldwide, it ranks among the cities with the highest levels of air pollution – and it’s located in the heart of Europe: Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Previously, the spatial distribution of air pollutants here was largely unknown, as were their sources. Now the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, using its mobile laboratory, has provided the first reliable data – and found the causes of the high level of pollution.

At the invitation of President Guy Parmelin, trade ministers responsible for World Trade Organization (WTO) issues and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala met in Davos on 22 January. They discussed the role of the WTO in addressing global trade policy challenges. In particular, they discussed possible avenues for compromise on certain negotiating topics and priorities for WTO reform. These issues will be at the heart of the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference, to be held in Cameroon in March.

Sustainable and high-performance batteries are a key technology for the energy transition. The EU-funded project HyMetBat aims to accelerate the development of new energy storage systems by developing reliable methods for characterizing different types of batteries. As part of the project, Empa is working on monitoring batteries during operation.

The 2026 edition of Swissbau, the construction and real estate industry trade fair in Basel from 20 to 23 January, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA) will be focusing on cyber risks in the construction and real estate industry. Various events will highlight the increasing threat posed by cyberattacks and provide companies with specific recommendations for action on cybersecurity along the supply chain.

In 2024, the balance sheet total of Switzerland's 1292 pension funds reached CHF 1220.6 billion (1129.1 billion in the previous year), with a positive net return on investment of 83.7 billion (54.2 billion in the previous year). In addition, value fluctuation reserves increased, and the level of underfunding continued to decline. This is according to the final results of the 2024 Pension Fund Statistics from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

Speech by Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis on the occasion of the Geneva Day at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos – Check against delivery

Agroscope’s 2026-2029 Work Programme addresses the most important challenges facing the Swiss agriculture and food sector, and agricultural practitioners in particular. The focus is on six key issues to be addressed by the research institute in 42 research programmes and around 360 projects. Areas such as plant protection, plant breeding, climate-change adaptation and economic efficiency will be strengthened.

A new final report (aviation) is available on the website of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board STSB.

Opening address by President Guy Parmelin, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER), at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Check against delivery.

Anyone who has ever had to get a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan knows that magnetic and highly conductive materials are a no-go in the tube-shaped scanners. However, for complex diagnoses and medical research, this imaging technique often needs to be combined with other methods that require conductive cables. As part of an Innosuisse project with the Swiss company TI Solutions, researchers at Empa have developed polymer-based cables that function safely and reliably in MRI machines.