Aid

Aid remains an important source of foreign finance for many countries. The CDI takes account of both aid quantity through their share of national income given as ODA; and of aid quality through their scores in the Quality of Official Development Assistance – QuODA exercise.

Switzerland’s aid performance

• Rank: 16

Strengths

• Small share of tied aid 
• Membership in the International Aid Transparency Initiative

Weaknesses

• Low support to global public goods facilities
• Low aid volume as a share of the economy

Trade

International trade has been a force for economic development for centuries. The CDI measures trade barriers in rich countries against imports from developing countries. It also penalizes costly importation processes and restrictions against purchasing services from foreigners.

Switzerland’s trade performance

• Rank: 26

Strengths

• Low tariffs on rice
• Low tariffs on clothing 

• High tariffs on agricultural products 
• High agricultural subsidies 
• High tariffs on sugar 
• High tariffs on beef 
• High tariffs on other meats 
• Many limitations on the importation of services

Finance

Rich-country investment in poorer countries can promote economic growth, help spread technologies, skills, and create jobs. Conversely, policies that permit secrecy can facilitate illicit activities and financial flows abroad. The CDI rewards policies that support healthy investment in developing countries and promote transparency in financial transactions at home as well as globally.

Switzerland’s finance performance

• Rank: 27

Strengths

• Active participation and leadership in extractive industries transparency initiatives such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the Kimberley Process on blood diamonds
• Provides assistance to companies looking for investment opportunities in developing countries

• Scores last in the Financial Secrecy Index for having few regulations in place to prevent illicit financial transactions within its jurisdiction 

Migration

Allowing people to move from poor to rich countries provides unskilled immigrants with jobs, income and knowledge. It also increases the flow of money migrants send home and the transfer of skills when the migrants return. The CDI also rewards countries for enabling students from developing countries to study at their universities, and for sharing the burden of refugees and asylum seekers.

Switzerland’s migration performance

• Rank: 8

Strengths

• Bears large share of the burden of refugees during humanitarian crises

Weaknesses

• Small share of foreign students from developing countries 

Environment

Rich countries use a disproportionate amount of scarce resources while poor countries are most vulnerable to global warming and ecological deterioration. The CDI measures the impact of policies on the global climate, fisheries, and biodiversity, all of which affect the lives of those far beyond one country’s borders.

Switzerland’s environment performance

• Rank: 17

Strengths

• Low greenhouse gas emissions rate per capita 
• No fishing subsidies
• No fossil fuel production

• Low gas taxes 
• High consumption of ozone-depleting chemicals per capita 
• Has not ratified the UN Fisheries Agreement

Security

Since security is a prerequisite for development, the CDI rewards contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping operations and forcible humanitarian interventions, military protection of global sea lanes, and participation in international security treaties. It penalizes arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments.

Switzerland’s security performance

• Rank: 18

Strengths

• Participates in major international security treaties and regimes

Weaknesses

• Small contributions to  peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions over last decade 

Technology

Rich countries contribute to development through the creation and dissemination of new technologies. The CDI accounts for this by rewarding government support for research and development (R&D), and penalizing strong intellectual property rights regimes that limit the dissemination of new technologies to poor countries.

Switzerland’s technology performance

• Rank: 16

Strengths

• Provides patent exceptions for research purposes
• Revokes unused patents

• Low tax subsidy rate to businesses for R&D 
• Allows patents on plant and animal varieties
• Pushes to extend intellectual property rights in bilateral trade treaties (“TRIPS Plus” measures) that restrict the flow of innovations to developing countries
• Imposes strict limitations on anti-circumvention technologies that can defeat encryption of copyrighted digital materials
• Offers patent-like proprietary rights to developers of data compilations, including those assembled from data in the public domain 
• Does not force patent holders to license to meet social needs