o
or PSdL), Evangelical People's Party (Evangelische Volkspartei der
Schweiz or EVP, Parti Evangelique Suisse or PEV, Partito Evangelico
Svizzero or PEV), and the Union of Federal Democrats
(Eidgenossisch-Demokratische Union or EDU, Union Democratique
Federale or UDF, Unione Democratica Federale or UDF)

International organization participation: ACCT, AfDB, AsDB,
Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA,
FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM,
ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MTCR, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS
(observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN (observer), UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNTSO,
UNU, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Alfred DEFAGO
chancery: 2900 Cathedral Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New
York, and San Francisco

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Madeleine May KUNIN
embassy: Jubilaeumstrasse 93, 3005 Bern
mailing address: use embassy street address

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

Economy

Economy--overview: Switzerland, a fundamentally prosperous and
stable modern economy with a per capita GDP 15%-20% above that of
the big West European economies, experienced an export-driven upturn
in its economy in 1998. The downturn in the global economy, however,
will have a cooling effect on the 1998 boom in the Swiss export
sector, including financial services, biotechnology,
pharmaceuticals, and special-purpose machines. A major downturn in
the Swiss economy should still be avoided, as consumer and capital
spending have picked up and will keep the economy moving in 1999.
GDP growth in 1999 is expected to come in around 1.4%. The growing
political and economic union of Europe suggests that Switzerland's
time-honored neutral separation is becoming increasingly obsolete.
Thus, when the surrounding trade partners launched the euro on 1
January 1999, their firms began prodding Swiss exporters and
importers to keep their accounts in euros.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$191.8 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth