GSB&L

Nature, mountains and forest, these were the essential elements which for many hundreds of years provided a living for a large proportion of the Ticino population. Alpine valley communities lived in close relationship with their environment and were aware of the importance of the forest which protected their settlements. Within a very few years the socioeconomic changes which took place in the second half of the twentieth century have reduced to a minimum the pressure of human intervention on the forest. These changes also led to a modification of the relationship and a loosening of the ties between people and their environment. Nature, mountains and forest have become a synonym for leisure and pleasure, meanwhile other services provided by the forest, with the exception of the protective function, have become, within the last three decades, of secondary importance. Over the last ten years there has been a steadily growing interest in the various services provided by the forest. The...

The purpose of the study is to determine the impact optimisation of local content in domestically assembled vehicles will have on the future growth potential of the automotive component sector. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 47 managers who were selected randomly using anonymous questionnaire. The respondents indicated that the two major challenges faced by the automotive component industry were, the local manufacturers pricing in comparison to global manufacturers was higher and the high level of dependence that local manufacturers have on foreign licences. A large percentage of the respondents believe that to optimise local content in locally assembled vehicles, government intervention and support will have to be at a high level. Improving internal competitiveness, rationalisation to achieve economies of scale and maximising government support are some of the key drivers to achieving optimal local content in the automotive component industry.