Author: wpc_editor

French Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein since 2014. Former diplomatic counsellor of the French government (2012-2014). He also served as Ambassador to Hungary (2007-2012), Director of Cabinet of the Deputy minister of Cooperation, Development and Francophony (2005-2007), Ambassador to Uganda (1998-2000). From 1988 to 1990, he was Director of Development at Canal+ TV. He held the position of Counsellor at the Ministry of Industry (1986-1988). He started his career as Secretary in the Political section of the French Embassy in Moscow. He graduated from the Institut d’études politiques. He is an Alumnus of the Ecole nationale d’administration, France.

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Cantonal Bank of Geneva. He is also member of the Board of Directors of Nestlé, Swatch Group and SwissRe. He represented Switzerland as Governor of the IMF, Washington. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel (2006-2009). At the end of March 2007, he was designated Switzerland’s representative in the Financial Stability Forum. He joined the Swiss National Bank in 1979, where he was, among others, Vice-Chairman and then Chairman of the Governing Board. He holds a doctorate in economics from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales (Graduate Institute of International Studies), Geneva.

Executive Secretary of the IEC Affiliate Country Programme, a free programme that comprises 83 developing countries – half of all countries that participate in the IEC. She is also the IEC liaison Officer for Developing Countries and the point of contact for ITU-D, UNIDO, UN-SE4ALL Practitioner Network and WTO TBT Committee. She coordinates the launch of IEC Africa Regional Centre (IEC-AFRC), inaugurated in Nairobi, Kenya, November 2015. Prior to joining the IEC Affiliate Country Programme Secretariat in 2003, she worked in the Technical Department of the IEC Central Office. She holds a Diploma from the Zurich Interpreters’ School (DOZ) – Zurich University, in English, French, German and Spanish.

Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of Shanghai Development Research Foundation (SDRF) which is a non-profit institution with the purpose of promoting research on the issues of development. Outside Expert for International Finance and Economy at the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Qiao was enrolled into Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1985. After graduation, he entered Harvard Institute for International Development and did research work. In 1995, he returned to China as Chief Representative and Managing Director of New York Life until May, 2003. Then he entered Shanghai Development Research Foundation, as responsible for the daily work, a position he still holds today. Prior to studying in the United States, he conducted research at the Institute of World Economy, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, as an Assistant Director. He is the author of Great Changes in Global Finance (2021) and China’s Integration into Global Financial System and its Impact on the Rest of the World (2019).

Seasoned Executive operating in Eastern Europe since the early ’90 (Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine & Romania). Dual competence in Industrial & FMCG. Internationally, he re-branded a major Industrial Group operating globally and for a FMCG Group launched a product that can be found in most markets. He si currently Board Member of Posta Romana and active member of different Think Tanks.He is graduated from Stanford University.

EFG Bank, Geneva. He began his career at Bank Brussels Lambert (BBL), in Brussels and Singapore, and afterwards pursued his career at BNP Paribas Fortis and Dexia Group, where he was CEO of Dexia Switzerland, before joining Geneva Cantonal Bank (BCGE) as Head of Private Banking and Member of the Executive Board. He also served as Head of Private Banking Romandie at BSI before joining EFG Bank as, successively, Head of Private Banking Geneva and Vice Chairman of EFG Asset Management and Head of the Independent Asset Managers. He holds Management, Finance and Tax Master’s degrees from the Universities of Brussels (Solvay Business School) and Leuven (UCL-Business and Administration Business School IAG).

Senior Minister and special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. He is the former Mayor of Addis Ababa. He currently serves as Chair of the board of several leading public organizations and international advisory boards. Dr Arkebe was recognized by the New African as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2016 for his work on industrialization and industrial policies, both theoretical and practical. He holds a PhD in development studies from SOAS, University of London, and is research associate at the Centre of African Studies in the University of London. His published works include the path-breaking Made in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2015), How Nations Learn (Oxford University Press, 2019), and China-Africa and an Economic Transformation (Oxford University Press, 2019).

President of Okamoto Associates. He is a Senior Research Fellow at MIT/CIS. He was a career diplomat in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1968-1991). His overseas postings were at Paris, Cairo and Washington. He was a Special Advisor to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto (1996-1998) and he was again a Special Advisor to Prime Minister Jun-ichiro Koizumi (2001-2004), also serving as the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Foreign Relations. He is a visiting professor of international relations at Ritsumeikan University as well as Tohoku University. He has written many books on Japanese diplomacy and is a regular contributor to major newspapers and magazines.

Board Member, Director, The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ). As a Board Member for the Institute and the Director in Charge of the Energy Data and Modelling Center, she is responsible for quantitative and qualitative analyses on energy and climate change policy issues. Her modeling team prepares the annual IEEJ Energy Outlook, continues to develop a Practical Approach to Climate Change and performed analyses that contributed greatly to Japan’s debate on a national energy mix. She has been leading miscellaneous international and regional programs in the area of energy cooperation through IEA, APEC, ERIA and IPEEC. She is currently a Council member of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE).

Chairman of Linebreak, a specialised service provider working with enterprises to drive efficiency and growth with intelligent, real-time decisioning. With over 30 years’ experience in technology transformation and strategic development, Patrick’s career includes more than two decades at Capgemini, where he held various leadership positions and served as a Group Executive Board member for seven years. Since 2021, Patrick has focused on building innovative distributed technologies and services, with a conviction that transitioning from centralised to distributed models is essential to tackle the most pressing societal, environmental and economic challenges.

Former Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. He served as Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation (2008-2011) and as UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Cyprus (2006-2008). Between 2001 and 2006 he was Director for Political, Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Affairs in the Office of the Secretary-General, while serving concurrently as Deputy Chief of Staff for the last two years of that period. He served as Head of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs at UN headquarters (1997-2001). He began his career in 1979 with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University, United States, and the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.

Ambassador of Paraguay to Switzerland and Liechtenstein since 2014. In 1991, she joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs occupying different positions, such as Vice Minister of Administration and Technical Issues. She also served as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, with concurrent accreditation to Poland, Latvia and Denmark (2004-2009). From 2001 to 2003, she was Executive Director of the National Fund of Culture and Arts (FONDEC) and then Technical Advisor of the Presidency of the Republic. She graduated from the Catholic University in Asunción and the Institute of Public Relations in Paraguay.

President of the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, since 2013. He is also Chair of the Council of the European Space Agency (ESA) and President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). He is a qualified engineer and scientist who has devoted his entire career to the European space program, holding positions within the French National Scientific Research Agency CNRS, several French ministries, at Novespace and a first stint with CNES before joining Starsem and Arianespace for 12 years, where he was CEO then Chairman & CEO. He is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). He has received several awards from France, the Russian Federation, the Government of Japan and Israel.

Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Former Director for the United Nations, Federal Foreign Office, Berlin (2010-2013). He worked at the NATO Defense College, Rome (2009-2010). He was also  Head of External Relations and Protocol, Senate, Berlin (2005-2009), Head of the Task Force for Global Issues, Federal Foreign Office, Berlin (2002-2005) and Head of the Office of Minister of State Helmut Schäfer, Bonn (1994-1997). He studied Law in Freiburg and holds a PhD in public international law.

Chief Rabbi of France since June 22nd, 2014. On December 15th, 2014 he was elected as a member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques. He worked closely with the Chief Rabbis of France, Joseph Sitruk and Gilles Bernheim. He was a member of the National Consultative Ethics Committee (2005-2009), General Jewish Chaplain of the Army and the Polytechnic School and Director of the General Chaplain of the Air Force. He also served as General Secretary of the Association of French Rabbis (1999-2010). He graduated from the Jewish Seminary of France (SIF), and obtained an MBA from the Reims Management School, a DEA from the École pratique des hautes études (Sorbonne) and a Ph.D. in Contemporary History of the University of Poitiers, as well as a Ph.D. in Management Science from the University Paris-Saclay. He is the author of several books. The last one being, Réinventer les aurores, un plaidoyer pour la République, published in February 2020 by Fayard.
Credit of the photo: David Morganti

Director of Research for the Gulf Research Center. He also leads the Tafahum Project on a Security Roadmap for West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office and is a member of the Bertelsmann Foundation Strategy Group on “The EU and Russia, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia: Strategies for the EU Neighbourhood”. From 2018 to 2020, he was a Senior Advisor and Director of Research at the Bussola Institute in Brussels, Belgium. Prior, he served as Director of the Gulf Research Center Foundation, Research Program Leader on Gulf-Europe Relations at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai and as Head of Strategic Studies at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi. He is the Editor of eight books; author of Politische Entwicklung in einem arabischen Golfstaat: Die Rolle von Interessengruppen im Emirat Kuwait, coauthor of Establishing a Regional Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Gulf Region, as well as numerous chapter contributions and journal articles. Dr. Koch received his Ph.D. from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg.

Partner, Global Head of Sovereign Advisory, Rothschild & Cie. She started her career at Lehman Brothers in 1999, Debt Capital Markets (“DCM”). She headed Lehman’s DCM practice for Northern Europe, then she co-headed Lehman’s Global Finance practice for France. She was a Senior Banker (M&A, DCM, ECM) for French corporates based in Paris. She joined Rothschild in 2009. Partner since 2014, she heads Rothschild’s Sovereign advisory group and Rating advisory practice. She graduated from HEC and Sankt Gallen, and also holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics.

Ambassador-at-Large and Policy Advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore.  From 2001 to May 2013, he served as second Permanent Secretary and then as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He had previously served in a variety of appointments including as Director for Southeast Asia, Director for East Asia and the Pacific and as Deputy Secretary for Southeast Asia.  He was also Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York and Ambassador to the Russian Federation. He graduated from the Raffles Institution, the University of Singapore and Columbia University in New York.

Dean of the School of International Studies of Peking University. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1988. He has taught in University of Vermont, Cornell University, University of California at San Diego, University of Sydney in Australia as well as Peking University. He was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, a visiting professor at the University of Vienna and a CNAPS fellow at the Brookings Institution. He is a member of the Standing Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He is also Director of the Institute for China-US People-to-People Exchange of the Ministry of Education, Vice President of the Chinese American Studies Association, Vice President of China International Relations Studies Association, and Vice President of Chinese Japanese Studies Association.

Professor Emeritus at The University of Tokyo. He was Professor of Economics at the Graduate School of Economics of the University of Tokyo, April 1996 through March 2016, and was the Dean of the Graduate School of Economics of the University of Tokyo, October 2007 through September 2009. He has been in various position advising the Prime Minister as well as Japanese government organizations. From 2013 to January 2019, he was serving as a member of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy. He received a BA of Economics from the University of Tokyo in 1974 and a Ph.D. of Economics from the University of Rochester in 1979. During the early period of his academic career he published various papers in international leading journals such as the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Review of Economic Studies, and the Journal of Economic Theory. Later he got more involved in policy issues in Japan and published more than 40 books on various aspects of policy issues. He regularly writes for several newspapers and magazines.

Special Advisor and a member of the Board of Directors of the Canon Institute for Global Studies, a research think tank in Tokyo. Mr. Horii is also a member of several non-profit entities, e.g., Japan Association of Corporate Executives; the Trilateral Commission. Akinari Horii was a Central Banker until he stepped down as Assistant Governor of the Bank of Japan in 2010. He received his MBA with distinction, and as a Beta Gamma Sigma, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his BA in Economics from the University of Tokyo.

Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister since May 2017. Immediately prior to taking up this role, he was Director for Strategy, Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1998 after a brief period as an academic at Oxford University. Before that, he had been working in the Home Office where he was responsible for counter-terrorism and security powers and policy.  Prior to that he worked at the independent Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq conflict and for three years in the cabinet of the European Trade Commissioner, where he was responsible for trade negotiations with South Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions and EU economic issues.  He has also worked on a range of security and multilateral issues in the FCO and overseas.

Professor Aviation Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Former Vice President, Strategy & Partnerships in China, Air France. Before joining Air France, he worked at Bossard Consultants. He has been working at Air France since 1979, where he has held various positions, including in the Operational Research – IT Division. He was in charge of the Planning and Development Division and of recovery and restructuring projects for the Group. He also served as Vice President of Routes for Air France Caribbean & Indian Ocean, Asia & Pacific, and Americas. He graduated from the Ecole Centrale.

Former Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor and Chancellor of the National Order of Merit. He was admitted to the second section of warrant officiers (officiers généraux) on February 28, 2010. He became Chief of the Military Staff of the President of the Republic in 2002. He was promoted to Army General on October 3, 2003, and then appointed Chief of the Defence Staff of the French Army on October 4, 2006. Promoted to Brigadier General in 1997, he was appointed Assistant General to the 11th Airborne Division and joined the SFOR (Stabilization Force) as Head of the “Plans and Policy” Office in the former Yugoslavia. He was admitted to the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in September 1967. He then chose to serve in the infantry and joined the Ecole d’application de l’infanterie (Infantry School) in Montpellier.

Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO), he plays a key role in multilateral trade negotiations, having served as Chair of the WTO’s General Council, and formerly as Chair of the Dispute Settlement Body. Formerly, he served as Canada’s Ambassador to Japan, Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister; Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for the Department of Finance and Canada’s G7 and G20 Finance Deputy. He is a member of the Steering Committee the e15 initiative on strengthening the Global Trading System.

Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein since 2014. Previously, she was Director General of the Section of European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia (2012-2014). From 2005 to 2011, she served as Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia. She also served as Counsellor and Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the OSCE, UN and other international organizations in Vienna. She graduated from Comenius University, Bratislava. She is pursuing PhD studies at Matej Bel University, Banská Bystrica.