cery at
2900 Cathedral Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 745-7900;
there are Swiss Consulates General in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los
Angeles, New York, and San Francisco;

US--Ambassador Joseph B. GILDENHORN; Embassy at
Jubilaeumstrasse 93, 3005 Bern; telephone [41] (31) 437-011;
there is a Branch Office of the Embassy in Geneva and a
Consulate General in Zurich

_#_Flag: red square with a bold, equilateral white cross in the
center that does not extend to the edges of the flag

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Switzerland's economic success is matched in few, if any,
other nations. Per capita output, general living standards, education
and science, health care, and diet are unsurpassed in Europe. Inflation
remains low because of sound government policy and harmonious
labor-management relations. Unemployment is negligible, a marked
contrast to the larger economies of Western Europe. This economic
stability helps promote the important banking and tourist sectors. Since
World War II, Switzerland's economy has adjusted smoothly to the great
changes in output and trade patterns in Europe and presumably can adjust
to the challenges of the 1990s, in particular, the further economic
integration of Western Europe and the amazingly rapid changes in East
European political/economic prospects.

_#_GDP: $126 billion, per capita $18,700; real growth rate 2.6%
(1990)

_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.3% (1990)

_#_Unemployment rate: 0.5% (1990)

_#_Budget: revenues $24.0 billion; expenditures $23.8 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1990)

_#_Exports: $63.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990);

commodities--machinery and equipment, precision instruments, metal
products, foodstuffs, textiles and clothing;

partners--Western Europe 64% (EC 56%, other 8%), US 9%, Japan 4%

_#_Imports: $70.5 billion (c.i.f., 1990);

commodities--agricultural products, machinery and transportation
equipment, chemicals, textiles, construction materials;

partners--Western Europe 78% (EC 71%, other 7%), US 6%

_#_External debt: $NA

_#_Industrial production: growth rate 2.1% (1990)

_#_Electricity: 17,710,000 kW capacity; 59,070 million kWh produced,
8,930 kWh per capita (1989)

_#_Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision
instruments

_#_Agriculture: dairy farming predominates; less than 50%
self-sufficient; food shortages--fish, refined sugar, fats and oils
(other than