Category: Invited guests

Distinguished Professor, Dankook University since 2015. Former President of the Northeast Asian History Foundation (2012-2015). He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dankook University (2011-2013), Chairman of Donga-Ilbo (East Asian Daily Newspaper) (2001-2011) and President of the Korean Political Science Association (2000). He also served as President of The Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations (1999-2001) and Chancellor of University of Incheon (1996-2000). He graduated from Seoul National University and Kent State University. He holds a Ph. D. in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Partner, Desfilis. He is the Senior Partner of the firm that he joined in 1986 and became its managing partner in 1990. He can handle complex operations involving finance and taxation. He has a strong expertise in governance issues as well as business succession. He holds a Master’s Degree in Corporate Law (Institut du Droit des Affaires, University of Paris II – Assas) and a Master’s Degree from the Institut d’Economie Appliquée in Paris.

Ambassador of Argentina to Switzerland since 2013. Previously, he served as Chief of Staff of the Minister of Foreign Affairs (2010-2013) and Director, North America Department (2008-2010). He also worked within the Ministry of Economy and Production (2006-2007). From 1999 to 2005, he was Head of the section for Economy and Trade at the Embassy of Argentina to the EU. He was also General Consul of Argentina in Zurich (1997-1999). Lawyer, he graduated from the University of Buenos Aires.

Ambassador of Poland to Switzerland since 2015. Previously, he served as Undersecretary of State for International relations at the Chancellery of the President of Poland (2010-2015). He was also Acting Director General of the Speaker of Sejm (Lower Chamber of the Parliament) (2007-2010). From 2005 to 2007, he was Advisor to the Deputy Speaker of Sejm. He was also a freelance journalist (2003-2007). He graduated from Warsaw University and the University of Hamburg.

Professor at VADS, Free University, Tbilisi since 2014. She is also a Senior Fellow at GISS Georgian Institute for Strategic Studies since 2013. Previously, she served as Ambassador of Georgia to Germany (2009-2013) and as Professor at the State Academy of Arts in Tbilisi (2001-2009). She studied Philosophy and Arts at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich and at the Academy of Arts in Munich.

Chief executive of AXA South West France. Before joining AXA France in 2013, he served the French government for over a decade in the areas of diplomacy and politics, European Union, agriculture policy reform and global food security. He was Chief of staff of the French Ministers of European Affairs and then of Food and Agriculture. He graduated from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) and Sciences Po Paris. He is Yale World Fellow 2012 and Young Global Leader 2014.

Deputy Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore. He is the Secretary General (Southeast Asia) and Board member of the Africa-South East Asia Chambers of Commerce (ASEACC), based in Singapore.  Previously, he served as a Senior Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Prior to IFC, he was Deputy Director of the Emerging Markets Division of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). Specific to Africa, he has visited over 10 countries in Sub Saharan Africa and played a key role in formulating Singapore’s economic strategies for Africa.

Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Switzerland since 2013. Previously, he served as Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Greece (2009-2013). He is also a Visiting professor at the Department for History, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Banja Luka since 2009. He was also a Senior assistant professor at the Department for History, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Banja Luka (2006-2009) and assistant professor at the Department for History, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Banja Luka (2001-2006). He holds a PhD from the University of Banja Luka.

Ambassador, Head Middle East and North Africa Division, Swiss Foreign Ministry since 2012. Previously, he served as Ambassador of Switzerland to the United Arab Emirates (2008-2012), Head of Human Rights Policy Section and Head of the Task Force “Human Rights Council” at the Department of Foreign Affairs (2003-2007) and Cultural Counsellor at the Swiss Embassy in London (1992-2002). He was also a Counsellor at the Swiss Embassy in Sarajevo (1996-1998).

Strategic advisor, consultant, and entrepreneur operating at the intersection of global policy, healthcare, agricultural innovation, and emerging technology. With over twenty years of experience across nonprofit, corporate, and public sectors on both sides of the Atlantic, she advises organizations navigating complex institutional and geopolitical environments. She lectures on NGOs and civil society within the context of economic diplomacy at ESCP, and advises a transatlantic investment partnership focused on healthcare and technology. She is currently co-founding two ventures, one addressing infectious disease risk and its security implications, and the other in artificial intelligence. She serves on the boards of several international policy and economic organizations, and writes and speaks regularly on geopolitics and global governance. She holds a BA in German Studies and an MS in Management.

Professor in entrepreneurship and innovation management at the University of Strasbourg. Member of BETA, research unit from CNRS. Associate researcher at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland. Partner at JobZippers. Her research deals with the way identity and social norms affect behaviors and actions in the domains of entrepreneurship and innovation as well as with the motivations driving firms to undertake and succeed in collective actions. She is an alumni of Ecole normale supérieure de Cachan in France and holds a doctorate in economics from University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Editor in chief of SonntagsZeitung since December 2013. Previously he was member of the editorship of the Tages-Anzeiger, a daily newspaper from Zurich during four years. As a journalist, he covered UBS during the financial crisis and Swissair until the bankruptcy of the national airline. For this he was named investigative journalist of the year 2013 and got in 2002 the Zürcher Journalistenpreis. He holds a doctorate of economics from the university of Zurich.

Chief Economist, Corporate Strategy of Total. He is following the evolution of economic activity and the oil and gas markets in the short term and the long term, on the upstream and downstream sides and their impact on Total strategy. Before he joined Total in 1999, he worked at the French Ministry of Finance, in the Treasury Department, following economic activity. He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique, France and from the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique. He also holds a Master in International Economics and Finance from Paris Dauphine University.

President of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) since 2015; Director in 2009-2015; Deputy Director in 1989-1994. He is Professor, Dr. of Science and Full Member of RAS. He has been serving as Editor-in-chief, Vostok (Oriens) journal since 1998; Professor and Chair of the Faculty of World Politics, Moscow State University since 2003; Professor, High School of Economics, Moscow. He was Member, High Level Group, UN Alliance of Civilizations project in 2005-2007, currently Goodwill Ambassador for the Alliance of Civilizations. He was Visiting Professor, American University in Cairo in 1991, and Visiting Professor, University of California in Berkeley in 2003. From 2016 until now he has been Senior Political Advisor to the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the UN for Syria. Member of the Advisory Council under the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Author of more than 500 publications in History, Political Science, International Relations, Conflict Management and Resolution, Islam, Middle East and Central Asian Studies.

Member of the Paris and New York Bars. Founder and managing partner, Laurent Cohen-Tanugi Avocats. He served as Chairman of the French governmental task force on Europe in the global economy (2007-2008). He was a Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (2005-2007), Senior Vice-President and General Counsel, Member of the Executive Committee of the Sanofi-Synthelabo pharmaceutical group (2004) and a Partner at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton (1991-2003). He also served as FCPA Independent Corporate Monitor appointed by the United States Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission (2011-2014). He graduated from Harvard Law School, University Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne Law School, the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (1980) and the Ecole Normale Supérieure. He has authored many influential books on democracy and the rule of law, European integration, transatlantic relations, and globalization.

Teacher, University of Dschang and CEO ICAD – Cameroon. He has 11 years of experience, working as a senior youth worker and an international cooperation expert. He lectures youth leadership as a transversal course in the University of Dschang, Cameroon and he is a co-founder of the African Network of Youth Policy Experts. He is also the founder and CEO of a youth-led organization dubbed InterCultural Alliance for Development. He has diplomas from UNDP, UNICEF, UNWomen, and POTI, USA. His numerous professional publications focus on his research and clinical interests in youth development and international cooperation.

Desk Manager, President’s Delivery Unit, Senegal. She is in charge of coordinating and monitoring five of the country’s twenty-seven flagship development projects. She worked as an analyst for BearingPoint Consulting before joining the telecommunication giant, Orange, as a business consulting manager. In her current role with the government, she is tasked with leveraging Senegal’s advantageous geographical location to attract top investors and tourists from around the Atlantic Basin. She graduated from Telecom Paris.

Deputy Country Manager, General Electric, Côte d’Ivoire. Her primary role is to identify and translate commercial opportunities into bankable projects for all the different businesses of GE in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa. She co-led the new implantation of GE in Côte d’Ivoire and continues to be involved in the daily operations. Prior to this, she spent seven years with GE Capital France where she held several positions. Her professional experience includes finance work with American Express in France and operations handling with Air France – KLM in the United States. She graduated in marketing and business administration from Baruch College.

Architect and Urban Planner, Klaus Müller GMBH, Germany. He is a practitioner and researcher on the issues of urban sustainability and mega-urbanization. He has worked intensively on urbanization challenges within the Middle East and North Africa region, China, and Europe, and has actively participated in a variety of international conferences, competitions, and workshops on the topic. He also took part in regional leadership programs, including the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative in Washington, DC and Young Arab Leaders in Kuala Lumpur. He graduated from the Technical University of Berlin, Tongji University, Shanghai, and the Ecole Nationale d’architecture, Rabat.

Special advisor Middle-East (based in Beirut and Riyadh), International Crisis Group since 2014. He held several positions in the International Crisis Group such as Special advisor Middle-East (based in Cairo and Damascus) (2013), Director, Egypt/Syria/Lebanon/Iraq/Gulf (based in Cairo and Damascus) (2012) and Director, Egypt/Syria/Lebanon (based in Cairo and Damascus) (2011-2012). He was Advisor to joint United Nations/Arab League special envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in 2013. He worked as an expert on a committee for the prevention of conflict at Chirac Foundation (Paris). From 2002 to 2006, he was reporting in and on Iraq for Le Monde Diplomatique. He graduated from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris).

CEO and co-founder of MapTech Logistics Limited, a company that uses the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to solve business problems by developing and deploying GIS based applications. He also founded EVOLV.Africa, a non-profit that empowers youth with entrepreneurship and leadership skills through seminars, conferences, and workshops. He has worked as logistics and supply chain analyst for Clean Team Ghana. He is founding curator of TEDxKNUST, has been named a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and was recently named as one of 30 under 30 emerging Ghanaians to watch by Future of Ghana Magazine. He holds an master’s of business administration in logistics & supply chain management from KNUST-Kumasi.

Senior Fellow and Adviser to the Board of Geopolitical Information Service AG. His experience spans financial services, geopolitical risk analysis and scenarios, cross cultural Management and conflict resolution and mediation, and financial diplomacy. He worked in Japan, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and Turkey.

Senior Advisor, Schlumberger, after serving as President of Schlumberger Business Consulting, an independent business unit of Schlumberger that he founded in 2004. An engineer by training, he joined Schlumberger in 1986 as a field engineer and spent the first years of his career working in Europe and Africa for major Oil and Gas companies. After 6 years spent with ICME, the leading strategy consultancy in Switzerland, he was made a partner by AT-Kearney in 1996. Following the acquisition of AT-Kearney by EDS, he was appointed CEO for EDS France. He rejoined Schlumberger in 2002. He graduated from Ecole polytechnique and completed the INSEAD MBA program and a Finance program at IMD.

Secretary-General of the Fondation Dr Henri Dubois-Ferrière Dinu Lipatti and board member of several charity foundations in Geneva. In charge of administration, accounting and human resources for several companies in various industries. Member of the board of the WPC Foundation since 2013.

Head of Corporate Development, Airbus Group. Responsible for supporting Group strategic development and portfolio review in strong coordination with operational Divisions. In former functions she previously led the Airbus Group Internal Audit with a specific focus on major programme review and risk management. She used to work in Airbus Group Inc in Washington DC as head of integration, strategy and planning with a strong focus on the North American Defense and Security market and also supported the Defense and Security Division in strategic and business development matters. She also worked for Airbus group Merger and Acquisition department.

Partner in the Geneva private client practice of Froriep, one of Switzerland’s main law firms with offices in Geneva, Zurich, Zug, Lausanne, London and Madrid. He has been with Froriep since 2005 and became a partner in 2015. During 2010 and 2011, Olivier was seconded to a prominent London law firm and then spent several months in the London office of Froriep. He combines expertise and experience in advising international high-net-worth individuals on estate and tax planning, asset protection, relocation and philanthropy. He is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and a committee member of STEP Geneva. He graduated from the University of Geneva.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TotalEnergies SE. He joined TotalEnergies (formerly Total) in 1997 and held positions in Angola and Qatar starting in 1999. He subsequently held several senior leadership roles within the Group, notably in Exploration & Production, Refining & Chemicals, and on the Executive Committee, before being appointed Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in December 2015. Prior to joining Total, he served in various positions within the French Ministry of Industry and in ministerial cabinets (1989–1996), including as Technical Advisor for Environment and Industry to the Prime Minister (1993–1995) and Chief of Staff to the Minister for Information Technology and Space (1995–1996). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Capgemini and Institut polytechnique de Paris, Mr. Pouyanné is Vice-Chairman of the French association, Entreprises pour l’Environnement (EpE), after having been its Chairman between June 2022 and June 2025. Mr. Pouyanné has also been the Chairman of the Alliance pour l’Education – United Way association from June 2018 to January 29, 2025, having accepted this office as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation. A graduate of École Polytechnique and a Chief Engineer of France’s Corps des Mines. Mr. Pouyanné is an Officer of the Légion d’honneur.

Governor of the National Bank of Romania since 1990. He is Member of the Romanian Academy since 2006. He served as Prime Minister (1999-2000). He held the position of Secretary in charge of economic and monetary issues with the Romanian Embassy in Washington, D.C. (1990). He has been Director of the Institute of World Economy since 1997. He also served as Governor for Romania in the IMF’s Board of Governors and as Vice-President of the Inter Ministerial Committee for the Transition to the Euro. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Academy of Economics in Bucharest.

Former Ambassador of the State of Qatar to France (2013-2016). Previously, he served as Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations in New York (2011-2013). He was Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Belgium (2007-2011), Counsellor at the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Brussels (2004-2007) and he worked at the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Washington (2000-2004). He also worked at the Permanent Delegation of the State of Qatar in New York (1998-2000). He started his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997. He graduated in international relations from the American University, Washington.