GENEVA, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Alcon, the eyecare unit of the Swiss global healthcare giant Novartis, plans to move its corporate headquarters from Texas to Geneva when the company is spun off as a separate company in 2019, Novartis said in a statement Tuesday.

"Being headquartered in Geneva will help further increase Alcon's global scale and reach to better serve our customers," said Alcon's Chief Executive Office, David Endicott.

He said that Alcon has for 40 years had a significant presence in Switzerland, "which is known for its progressive business climate and innovation-friendly policies".

Novartis said that the current global headquarters of Alcon in Dallas in the United States will remain a major site.

The company plans to employ up to 700 people in Switzerland.

While the company's management and key commercial functions will be in Geneva, the new publicly listed company's official registration will be in the Swiss town of Fribourg, some 140 kilometers northeast of Geneva.

Alcon corporate and regional employees will begin moving to the new Geneva location in 2019, said the statement.

Additional Swiss sites are planned in the towns of Rotkreuz and Schaffhausen.

The Alcon decision comes as Geneva seeks to keep its attractiveness for multinational companies despite concerns about housing shortages fuelled in part by the thousands of people who come to live and work in the city each year, the Swiss News Agency, SDA-ATS, reported.