Sales of Swiss-made arms rose by 3% in the first half of the year, marking a modest turnaround fuelled by growing demand from regional power South Africa and nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. Switzerland notched CHF224 million ($228 million) in sales of “war materiel” during the January-June period, up from nearly CHF217 million during the same timeframe a year ago, according to figures published online by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) on Thursday. That represents a modest rebound from the full-year results for 2015, when such exports reached their lowest level in nearly ten years. Exports for all of 2015 had dropped to CHF446.6 million ($449 million), down 21% from the previous year, SECO reported in February. The federal numbers cover a broad range of military goods – ranging from handguns to explosives to armoured vehicles – and are based on information provided by exporters in their export declarations. Germany retained its ...
