About Us

Who we are.

FEMOZA was founded in 1999 under the name of Fédération Mondiale des Zones Franches. It was created by an initiative of the Swiss Fondation EMA INVEST with the support and advice of Mr. Juan Torrents and Mr. Peter F Ryan. However, its origins go back to 1976 when, as UNIDO Director, Mr. Peter F. Ryan launched the Program EXPORT PROCESSING ZONES and founded WEPZA for UNDP/UNIDO.

FEMOZA is an autonomous not-for-profit NGO, managed under its Statutes and the Articles 60th and followers’ relevant clauses of Swiss Civil Code. We are independent from any government or any political cause and confessional non-aligned. We are the only such Swiss National Organization, representing the interests of Free Zones, Export Processing Zones and Special Economic Zones globally.

Under FEMOZA, all Free Zones & Special Economic Zones will be served equally without any biase, provided they subscribed to good ethics of standard operations.

No Zone will have its Affiliation restricted, due to its economic capacity. But rather we would support Zones to achieve optimum growth and serve the socio-economic benefits of their establishment.

A concrete help for a better and kind world

1

The benefits coming from the activities will be used for self-financing and to develop projects with a collective interest.

2

Our Vision is focussed, but not limited, to social goals and our strategic plan suits with the UN Agenda 2020/2030.

3

“FEMOZA is a Neutral, Open, Plural and Socio-Economic Organization”

Geneva, Our City

“There are five parts of the world: Europe, Asia, America, Africa … and Geneva!”.
Talleyrand, the Congress of Vienna.

 

Due to its international nature and multicultural tradition, Geneva offers the ideal location for globalized companies. Over 140 multinationals have already established themselves in Geneva, not to mention 36 international organizations (IOs), over 300 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and 200 diplomatic missions, thereby making Geneva a cosmopolitan city, with a foreign population of 40%.

Geneva reaches high scores in all international rankings regarding business locations. For the international, European and EMEA (Europe, Middle-East and Africa) headquarters of global companies, Geneva provides a number of advantages, among which an attractive tax system, an easily accessible location in the heart of Europe, a complete set of business-support services, a highly-skilled, multilingual and stable workforce, business-friendly government and an outstanding quality of living. The influence of the many NGOs and the UN agencies gives a good international flavour to Geneva that, for business, is important.