omniture

Leng Xusheng, Vice Mayor of Shanghai Xuhui District Government, Welcomes the Swiss Capital Area - Bern-Jungfrau to Shanghai

Berne Economice Development Agency
2010-05-18 06:27 4661

Official Launch of the Bern-Jungfrau Exhibition in the Swiss Pavilion

BERNE, Switzerland, May 22 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The Swiss Capital Area -- Bern-Jungfrau today officially opened its exhibition in the Swiss Pavilion at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai. Andreas Rickenbacher, Member of the Government and Minister of Economic Affairs of the Canton of Bern, presented a gift from Bern to Mr. Leng Xusheng, Vice Mayor of Shanghai Xuhui District Government: a mountain crystal from the Bernese Oberland -- a symbol of the Jungfrau Mountain, the naturalness and dynamic of the Swiss Capital Area -- Bern-Jungfrau. The Bern-Jungfrau Region will be on show to the wider general public and Chinese companies in the Swiss Pavilion until 21 June 2010.

Andreas Rickenbacher, Member of the Government and Minister of

Economic Affairs of the Canton of Bern (Switzerland), Leng Xusheng, Vice

Mayor of Shanghai Xuhui District Government, Reto Nause, Member of the Bern

City Council, Director of Security, the Environment and Energy of the City of

Bern, and Markus Lergier, Director of the Bern Tourism opened the

Bern-Jungfrau Region exhibition in the Swiss Pavilion at EXPO 2010 in

Shanghai. "We want to provide the Chinese public with more information on our unique Bern-Jungfrau Region. We are a very dynamic region both from the tourism as well as the economic aspects," said Andreas Rickenbacher. "Water is the element that links Bern and the Jungfrau -- from the permanent ice on the Jungfraujoch, to the lakes, to the River Aare which flows through the City of Bern. We offer the ideal link between city and nature, between urban and rural region," said Reto Nause, Member of the Bern City Council.

Highlights of the Bern-Jungfrau Region

The Bern-Jungfrau Region is made up of three main tourist highlights: the City of Bern with its Old City which forms part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the Jungfrau Region, with Europe's highest railway station and a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, and the City of Thun, the gateway to the Bernese Alps. Water is the element that connects Bern, Thun and the Jungfrau region, from the permanent ice on the Jungfrau mountain, via Lake Thun to the River Aare which flows through the City of Bern.

Relationship between China and Bern-Jungfrau Region

As Switzerland's capital and a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, Chinese visitors are attracted to the City of Bern. Last year the City of Bern recorded a 33 percent increase in the number of overnight stays by visitors from China. The most popular destinations include the Old City of Bern, the Rose Garden, the Albert Einstein Exhibition as well as the new BearPark on the River Aare. "The Bernese Albert Einstein Exhibition will be opened in Beijing on 30 May 2010 (China Science and Technology Museum). From there it will go on to Guangzhou (November 2010 - February 2011), Hong Kong (April 2011 - August 2011) and Shanghai (October 2011 - February 2012)," said Markus Lergier, Director of Bern Tourism.

Approx. 400,000 visitors from Asia make the trip to the Jungfrau mountain "Top-of-Europe" every year. Today they account for 60% of the visitors to this region. Last year the Jungfrau Railway carried twice as many visitors from China as in 2008. China is its future market. After the first agency in China was opened in Beijing, the Jungfrau Railway opened the second one in Shanghai this year.

The Thun Region is the gate to Bernese Alps. Thun fascinates with its versatility, culture, history and last but not least with its beautiful location on the lake, which allows a glimpse of the unique constellation of Eiger, M?nch and Jungfrau mountains. With its historical old part of town, its picturesque location on the River Aare and the lake, the town invites to relax, to stroll and to take part in plenty of sporty activities. Thun is not only an interesting old city, but also accommodates high-tech companies for example in green technologies. The Thun based company Meyer Burger Swiss Solar Systems is strongly expanding on the Chinese market.

Economic strengths of the Bern-Jungfrau Region

The Canton of Bern is known for its outstanding know-how in the precision industry thanks to its tradition in watch making and the steadily growing sectors of medical technology, information and communication technology, green technologies and the highly qualified personnel in these segments. In the Canton of Bern manufacturers, distributors, schools and universities as well as professional associations and research centers form so-called clusters. To further cooperation and innovation the clusters develop sector specific activities. Many international companies have their headquarters in the region, for example Huawei Technologies, Swatch Group (with trade marks Omega, Longines, Rado, Swatch), eBay International, PepsiCo, Cemex, Harting, Ypsomed, Straumann, Medtronic, Roche Diagnostics, CSL Behring, Swisscom and Orange Communications.

Exhibition Bern-Jungfrau in the Swiss Pavilion

The Bern-Jungfrau stand in the public zone of the Swiss Pavilion is designed on an interactive basis and gives visitors a foretaste of holidays in the region. In three photo studios equipped with Bluescreen technology they can now photocopy typical postcard scenes -- e.g. swimming in the River Aare or piloting a paraglider against the backdrop of the Jungfraujoch mountain. The images are projected live on the stand and can be sent as postcards.

A special programme geared towards traditional Swiss customs is offered every day on the stage in the public zone. For example, wood carvers from the Wood Carving Center Brienz can be observed carving a bear and other folklore motifs. Visitors are welcome to try their hand at this. The Jungfrau Railway will also be putting on show a railway station bench from the pioneering age of rail which will then journey right around the world. This will herald the start of the 100th anniversary of the Jungfrau Railway. A clock on the bench will show the countdown to "zero hour" on 1 August 2012.

Investor seminars for Chinese companies

In the VIP zone the Greater Geneva Berne area will be organising investor seminars for Chinese companies. Representatives of the Berne Economic Development Agency will be on hand to explain to participants the benefits of Switzerland and the Greater Geneva Berne area as a business location.

Press documentation can be downloaded here:

http://www.berneinvest.com/shanghai

More information:

About Switzerland

http://www.myswitzerland.com.cn (Switzerland Tourism)

http://www.invest-in-switzerland.com (Switzerland Trade & Investment

Promotion)

About Bern-Jungfrau

http://www.bern.ch (City of Bern)

http://www.berninfo.com (Bern Tourismus)

http://www.thun.ch (City and Tourism Thun)

http://www.jungfrau.ch (Jungfrau Railway)

http://www.berneinvest.com (Berne Economic Development Agency - Member of

the Greater Geneva Berne area)

http://www.ggba-switzerland.ch (Greater Geneva Berne area)

For further information, please contact:

Berne Economic Development Agency

Mr Denis Grisel (speaks English)

Director

Add: Münsterplatz 3

CH-3011 Bern

Tel: +41-31-633-41-20

Fax: +41-31-633-40-88

Email: denis.grisel@berneinvest.com

Web: http://www.berneinvest.com

Greater Geneva Berne Area Economic Development Agency

Ms Qin Lan (speaks Chinese)

Official Representative in China

Add: World Trade Center

Av. de Gratta-Paille 2

P.O. Box 252

1000 Lausanne 22

Switzerland

Tel: +86-131-206-72-466

EMail: l.qin@ggba-switzerland.ch

Web: http://www.ggba-switzerland.ch

Source: Berne Economice Development Agency
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