Greater Zurich Area — official investment-promotion and talent-attraction agency

Greater Zurich Area Ltd. (GZA) is the official investment promotion agency for the Zurich economic region, covering nine cantons of German- and Italian-speaking Switzerland. Founded in 1998 as a public-private partnership between cantonal governments, municipalities, and business stakeholders, it operates with a lean team of ~20 experts across six global offices: Zurich, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

What it does: GZA provides free, tailor-made support to international companies evaluating the Zurich area: site and regulatory navigation, tax analysis, partner introductions, talent-pipeline access, and long-term aftercare. Targeted sectors include artificial intelligence, biotech/pharma, blockchain, cleantech, and food-tech / autonomous systems.

Measurable results: since inception GZA has helped more than 1,000 companies establish a presence in the region. In 2024, 91 international companies were settled, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Revolut, and BYD — four in five landing in a focus sector. In 2025, 98 companies were settled projecting 1,295 planned jobs over five years, including 29 new R&D centres and 24 new headquarters.

Talent context: the city of Zurich is Google's largest development centre outside the US, with 5,000+ employees from 85 nations. Switzerland ranked #1 in the IMD World Talent Ranking for ten consecutive years (2016–2025), leading in both Investment & Development and Appeal.

Why it is a good practice: the model combines a lean public-private agency structure, sector focus, and global business-development offices to attract knowledge-intensive companies — and with them, high-skilled international talent — into the Zurich region.

Read the full analysis: https://www.greaterzuricharea.com/