Page 5 - Maerki Baumann & Co. AG | Annual Report 2021

role during the COVID-19 pandemic. It had an impact on all of our lives through the restrictions it imposed, and deployed huge sums of money to overcome both the health and economic consequences of the pandemic. I am not going to criticise that approach, even if certain individual measures can clearly be singled out for crit- icism. But what appears much more important to me now is that this swathe of regulatory restrictions drawn up by the state – on both our personal lives and the working of our economy – is cut right back to a sensible minimum once the pandemic is over. I am in no doubt whatsoever that freedom is of paramount importance not just to human activity, but also when it comes to successfully dealing with opportunities and risks. I would like to wish you and all our employees all the very best – particularly on the health front. On behalf of the Board of Directors Hans G. Syz-Witmer Chairman 5 Maerki Baumann & Co. AG