Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Officials yet to ascertain exact number and identity of those who died I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Several people have been killed following a small plane crash in central Switzerland. Swiss police said the aircraft went down in a forest near the town of Hergiswil on Saturday morning and burst into flames upon impact. A helicopter was subsequently dispatched to douse the wreckage in water before rescue workers arrived at the scene. Officials have not yet been able to ascertain the exact number and identity of those who died. Hergiswil is located about 10 km south of Lucerne, in the canton of Nidwalden. Last year three people died after a plane crash-landed at a summer camp in the mountainous canton of Granbunden, in the east of the country. Those killed included two 14-year-olds and the plane’s pilot. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Meggen LU was voted the best municipality in Switzerland - thanks to low taxes proximity to the center and a perfect location on the lake The municipalities were compared with a total of 51 factors childcare facilities and shopping opportunities The data is based primarily on public statistics and real estate price models from Iazi AG The major cities performed worse overall than in the previous year Zurich is in 54th place (previous year 45th) Basel is in 486th place (previous year 93rd) and Bern is in 491st place (previous year 199th) The reasons for the lower scores can be attributed to the areas of housing and work Val-de-Travers NE occupies last place in the ranking after Mümliswil-Ramiswil SO was at the bottom for many years The Neuchâtel municipality with 10,550 inhabitants is the place with the highest taxes in Switzerland The municipality is also poorly connected and has a low job density "The main levers for a top location in a municipality are low taxes proximity to the center and a lake," says study author Donato Scognamiglio co-founder and board member of real estate specialist Iazi the cantons of Central Switzerland have: a successful tax policy." is delighted with first place: "Living in Meggen is seen as a privilege by most people" But it is not just the rich and privileged who live here there is a diverse village life with living traditions and a colorful club culture you walk through the village and are greeted on the street." Zollikon ZH is the first municipality in Zurich to take 6th place in the Handelszeitung ranking the population is growing steadily to currently 13,500 people which also increases the tax base to CHF 6,500 per capita the municipality has net assets of 102 million francs as at the end of 2023 we have always achieved a higher surplus than planned," says municipal president Sascha Ullmann "Our healthy finances are a degree of freedom that helps us to guarantee a good infrastructure and good services." Governments are increasingly using PPP schemes to source funds for infrastructure projects Rönesans Healthcare Investment has invested in a number of these deals in Turkey Many of the world’s governments face a long backlog of much-needed infrastructure and development projects Debates surrounding the priority of these projects dominate election campaigns and very few nations have the resources to complete everything they would like to achieve the only feasible solution is to delay plans over and over again much to the detriment of the communities that rely on them governments are increasingly pursuing public-private partnerships (PPPs) to source additional funds Such opportunities give private investors the chance to profit from the sector while also providing a vital contribution to an often under-funded part of society Rönesans Healthcare Investment has invested in a number of PPP deals in Turkey including the Ikitelli Hospital and Elazig Hospital Rönesans Holding has also acquired Dutch-based constructor Ballast Nedam including: Hergiswil of Switzerland; Heitkamp of Germany; and a minority share purchase of Porr of Austria Chairman of Rönesans Healthcare Investment spoke to World Finance about how these deals represent an innovative new way of doing business PPS give private investors the opportunity to profit from the sector while also providing a vital contribution to a sometimes under-funded facet of society After an in-depth assessment of models in the world which has proven very efficient in terms of value for money for many other states Since Turkey had sufficient private initiative to realise these investments PPP schemes would give the Turkish Government a lot of leverage in terms of financing many new hospitals while at the same time being able to extend its tenor of payment of these investments the government decided this would be the best scheme This was actually the beginning of a difficult process The project agreement in its initial form was not considered robust enough and non-recourse project financing seemed to be a difficult target amendments to the legislation to clarify grey areas and line-by-line assessment of the agreements with the MoH we finally achieved the agreements in their current form in 2014 banked various times by international financing institutions I believe that the government’s decision to proceed with a PPP scheme was the correct decision despite some bumps on the road at the very beginning Turkey’s PPP adventure has become an example to many other countries aiming to adopt similar infrastructure development schemes and the transition from construction to operation worked very well Although we did experience the difficulty of being the first investor to open a PPP hospital in Turkey Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders We have been receiving payments in accordance with the agreements we have now successfully entered phase two (operations) of these investments We are the investor at the special purpose vehicles If I put on my investor hat for this question I would observe that the scheme has repeatedly proven itself to be robust – not only in Europe through our partnership with Meridiam and European banks thanks to our partnership with Sojitz and our friends at JBIC NEXI and other Japanese financing institutions a new foreign investor should certainly seize this opportunity in Turkey and catch the train It is also important to underline that when you get comfortable with the product or project itself local partners are always crucial when you enter new regions the private sector is required to procure a high set of standards for design and then to provide services in accordance with well-defined standards the revenues become subject to penalties defined under the project agreement so protection for standards is already written into the agreements When you look at these projects from a general public benefit perspective we act next to the public sector and work together with it to bring out the best possible results for the whole community Since the rules are clear in the agreement from day one I would not say that we have material conflicts of interest with the public sector in any of these projects following our partner Meridiam’s experience in bond financing in other projects This was a first-ever in Turkey in many senses and included very innovative components and new products from EBRD the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and IFC the Elazıg bond would not have been possible Together they set a very good example and pioneered an excellent scheme of financing other future projects Being one of the largest PPP hospitals in Turkey we had to find new resources to finance this project we were able to tap Japanese financing resources JBIC and NEXI have provided great support for this huge deal and have made it possible who we now consider reliable business partners have also provided a great deal of support This deal also had some interesting and first-ever aspects with newcomers including Standard Chartered The deal was the largest infrastructure deal in Turkey for JBIC with 18 years tenor and it was the first in Japanese currency in the pipeline financial institutions and their support to all new projects are fundamental and we believe in building trust and long-term relationships with financial institutions The second most important responsibility is to operate the hospital professionally Thousands of people will be using the hospital on a daily basis and this could create a chaotic environment if not managed efficiently; an advanced level of facility management is required By the time we open the Ikitelli PPP hospital our facility management company will have gained wide experience running large-scale operations across other projects We had already started training our staff before we opened Yozgat and those trainees have grown to become trainers in Adana able to transfer experience and expertise from site to site improving its processes and capability each time a new hospital is opened Having been at the company for 15 years now how does your experience influence the decisions you make Having been more than 25 years in business life I have always worked in environments where the balance can shift very fast and circumstances are perpetually changing you have to think and act fast to seize critical opportunities and I learned from experience to do exactly that while also making sensible decisions in high-pressure situations Working for more than 25 years in the private sector building partnerships with various international partners and developing various projects alongside international companies Looking at things from different perspectives always helps innovative thinking and progression I think the thorough consideration of political and economic circumstances are necessary in order to distinguish the right investments from the wrong ones From melted cars and stampeding dinosaurs to a time-travelling bungalow, here are the highlights from the first ever virtual exhibition of Photo Basel 2020 From melted cars and stampeding dinosaurs to a time-travelling bungalow, here are the highlights from the first ever virtual exhibition of Photo Basel 2020 Photograph: Arnold Odermatt/Galerie Springer Photograph: Robert Voit/Galerie Peter Sillem Photograph: Cecilia Paredes/Blanca Berlin gallery Photograph: Dirk Brömmel/Hengevoss-Dürkop Photograph: Antoine d’ Agata/Magnum Photos Photograph: Terri Loewenthal/Catherine & André Hug Galerie Photograph: Xu Jiong/Per van der Horst gallery Photograph: Ayana V Jackson/Gowen Contemporary Photograph: Peter Bialobrzeski/Galerie Albrecht we’d like to thank you for joining the debate - we’re glad you’ve chosen to participate and we value your opinions and experiences Please choose your username under which you would like all your comments to show up Please keep your posts respectful and abide by the community guidelines - and if you spot a comment you think doesn’t adhere to the guidelines, please use the ‘Report’ link next to it to let us know. Please preview your comment below and click ‘post’ when you’re happy with it. Founded in 1990 at Vsetin, Czech Republic, Glass Service is a leading provider of digital solutions for glass furnaces, including advanced control systems and simulation software. Closing of the transaction is subject to antitrust approvals and is expected by the end of the first half of 2024. It will complement Saint-Gobain’s range of digital services offering predictive, diagnostic, and data-driven solutions to improve energy efficiency for its customers and reduce the carbon footprint of their products and processes. Saint-Gobain had recently invested in 3 start-ups for breakthrough innovation through its venture arm Nova: *Sysdyne Technologies - to enhance productivity and traceability for ready-mix concrete production and delivery thanks to a cloud-native software platform, and *Plantformance and Newboot to improve manufacturing performance thanks to a comprehensive suite of services and software programs as well as real-time data collection. These partnerships enable Saint-Gobain to integrate cutting-edge technologies, such as IoT (Internet of Things), artificial intelligence (AI), and digital twins which can result in a reduction of up to 10% in a factory’s energy consumption. Since its acquisition of GCP in October 2022, Saint-Gobain owns and operates Verifi in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific: a concrete management system which leverages IoT technology to ensure consistent quality and sustainability in ready-mix concrete production and delivery. In addition, the Solu+ and Cap Renov digital tools sold by Saint-Gobain’s merchanting businesses in France continue to see growing success with trade professionals and renovation companies with about 90% of worksites eligible for MaPrimeRénov’ having used the Cap Renov advisory, layout and estimation tool in 2023. These digital solutions contribute to the goals of Saint-Gobain's “Grow & Impact” strategic plan aiming to provide end-to-end solutions to its customers and accelerate the decarbonization of their products and processe Copyright 2022 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). Get insights and exclusive content from the world of business and finance that you can trust, delivered to your inbox. Das Vermögen der Reichsten in der Zentralschweiz beläuft sich auf 150,7 Milliarden Franken. Rund 12 Prozent weniger als im Vorjahr. Dieses Jahr mussten vor allem jene Federn lassen, deren Vermögen sich vornehmlich in an der Börse kotierten Unternehmen bündelt. Mit einer Vermögensschmelze von rund 7 Milliarden haben die Familien Schindler und Bonnard vom sehr konjunkturanfälligen Ebikoner Liftbauer Schindler dieses Jahr am meisten verloren. Der Aktienkurs des von ihnen kontrollierten Liftbauers ist im Rahmen der allgemeinen Börsenschwäche überdurchschnittlich stark abgestürzt. Schwyz Luzern Zug Nidwalden Obwalden Alle Informationen für die Tabellen stammen von der Zeitschrift «Bilanz».