Ticino joins Greater Zurich Area

The Finance and Commerce Department (FWD) of the canton of Ticino and GZA announce the accession of the canton to the location promotion agency of the Zurich economic region. As stated in a press release, the accession agreement was signed by Councillor of State for Ticino Christian Vitta and Councillor of State for Zurich Carmen Walker Späh, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Greater Zurich Area.

Through the accession of the canton of Ticino, the Greater Zurich Area will in particular be able to increase its expertise in hi-tech areas such as Life Sciences, ICT or mechatronics. In addition, the GZA will be closer to the leading players in the Swiss innovation scene. For example, the Ticino is home to several key innovation organisations, including the University of Italian-speaking Switzerland (USI), the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI), the Swiss AI Lab (IDSIA), the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS), which is affiliated to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ). Talks are also underway about a possible alliance between the canton of Ticino and the Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich.

According to Vitta, by joining the location promotion agency, the Ticino wants to intensify the competitive and innovative capability of its economy and move closer to the North. Ticino is already making an important step in the direction of the Northern Alps with AlpTransit and strengthening its economic ties with the rest of Switzerland.

With the accession of Ticino, nine cantons now belong to the Foundation “Greater Zurich Area Standortmarketing” as the owner of Greater Zurich Area AG. The city of Zurich, the Winterthur region and 29 stakeholders from private enterprise and the academic community are also members of the foundation.