SECO's board of directors
Board Committee
State Secretary Jean-Daniel Gerber (*1946), lic.rer.pol., SECO Director and Director of the Foreign Economic Affairs Directorate since 01.04.2004. Previously Director of the Federal Office for Refugees from 1998. From 1993 to 1997 Executive Director and Dean (1997) of the Board of the World Bank Group. He entered government service in 1973.
Ambassador
Eric Scheidegger (*1961), Dr. rer. pol.,
SECO Deputy Director since 01.02.2007 and
head of the Promotion Activities Directorate since 01.10.2003. Previously head of SECO's Location Promotion Division from 01.06.2002. Prior to that, economic policy consultant to Federal Councillor Pascal Couchepin from 1998. Member of the NZZ economic editorial staff from 1994 to 1998. Staff member of the «Gesellschaft zur Förderung der schweizerischen Wirtschaft» (association for the development of the Swiss economy) from 1992 to 1994.
Serge Etienne Gaillard (*1955) Dr. oec. Since 1 February 2007 head of the Labour Directorate at SECO. Previously since 1998 Head of the Central Secretariat of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB) and its economic policy spokesperson. From 1998 to 2006 Member of SNB Bank Council. From 2001 to 2006 Member of Competition Commission. From 1993 to 1998 managing secretary at the SGB. From 1987 to 1993 senior officer and project head at the Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research (KOF) at the FIT in Zurich. From 1983 to 1987 senior assistant at the University of Zurich, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics. From 1979 to 1985 teacher at a vocational school in Zurich.
Aymo Brunetti (*1963), Prof., Dr. rer. pol., head of the Economic Policy Directorate since 01.10.1999. Previously head of SECO's Economic Analysis Division and prior to that Vice-Director of FOEDL and head of the Economic Policy Division from March 1999. Full-time acting professor at the University of Saarland from 1997 to 1999. He is honorary professor at the University of Basel (1999) and adjunct professor at the University of Berne (2007).
Ambassador Urs Bucher (*1962), Attorney, head of the Integration Office DFA/DEA since 01.02.2005. Previously head of political coordination in the Integration Office with the title of Minister (2001-2005), Councillor at Switzerland's EU Mission in Brussels. He joined the DFA's diplomatic service in 1990.
Board
The board includes all members of the board committee plus the following members:
Thomas A. Zimmermann (*1971), Dr. oec., Head of the Organisation, Law and Accreditation Directorate since 01.05.2009. Previously head of the Staff Unit at SECO from 01.04.2006, Senior Desk Officer for North America in the Bilateral Economic Relations Division from 2003 - 2006. Research Associate at the Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economic Research at the University of St. Gallen from 1998-2003.
Pascal Richoz (*1963), lic. ès lettres, Head of the Working Conditions Division since 1 September 2008. In the six months prior to that he acted as head of the Asylum Procedure Division at the Federal Office for Migration. Between 1990 and 2002, he was deputy head of section, then head of section and deputy head of division within the Stay and Return Division of the Federal Office for Refugees. Between 1989 and 1990, he assisted and advised the Delegate for Refugees. Between 1987 and 1989, he served on the staff of the Cantonal Aliens' Registration Office in Fribourg before becoming deputy head of section.
Dominique Babey (*1950), lic. ès. sc. éco., since 01.07.2008 Deputy head of the Labour Directorate. Head of the Labour Market / Unemployment Insurance Division of the Labour Directorate since 01.07.1999. Prior to that, head of the same division in the FOEA from 1998. Dep. head of the FOEDL's Labour Market Division between 1992 and 1998. Engaged in the private sector between 1987 and 1992 at Gesplan and as a Director of Swipar Holding AG. Employed in the former FOEDL from 1976 to 1987.
Ambassador Christian Etter, (*1953), Dr. rer. pol., Federal Council Delegate for Trade Agreements; head of the Special Foreign Economic Service Division in the Foreign Economic Affairs Directorate. Previously he was head of the EFTA/Free Trade Agreemetns Division in SECO/IO (from 2000). From 1996 to 2000 he was head of the Division for Financial, Economic and Trade Affairs at the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C. with the title of a diplomatic Minister. From 1991 to 1996 he was head of the International Services Division of the former Federal Office for Foreign Economic Affairs. He joined the FOFEA in 1985 as an economist.
Ambassador Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch (*1961), Attorney, MBA, from 1 April 2007, head of the World Trade Division in the Foreign Economic Affairs Directorate. Previously from 1999 until 2007, head of the WTO sector. Prior to that head of section in the WTO section of the Federal Office of Foreign Economic Affairs from 1995. In 1992/93, she was assistant to Switzerland's Executive Director at the World Bank. From 1990 to 1995, she worked in the Legal Service and International Investment Service of the FOFEA. She obtained an MBA from INSEAD in 1989 and in 1998 was a Junior Consultant at McKinsey in Zurich.
Ambassador Beatrice Maser Mallor (*1961), Dipl. Arch. ETHZ, postgraduate studies on developing countries, Head of the Economic Development and Cooperation Division in the Foreign Economic Affairs Directorate since 1 December 2008. Between 2004 and 2008, head of Export and Investment Promotion in the Promotion Activities Directorate. Between 2001 and 2004 seconded to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London. Entered the Federal Office for Foreign Economic Affairs in 1995; previously at FUNDES in La Paz. Between 1989 and 1994 worked at Swiss Bank Corporation in Zurich and New York.
Ambassador Monika Rühl Burzi (*1963), lic.phil.I (MA), Head of the Bilateral Economic Relations Division in the Foreign Economic Affairs Directorate since 1 August 2006. Previously Personal Advisor to Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss (2002-2006).
From 1998-2002 she was Counsellor at the Swiss Mission to the UN in New York and entered the diplomatic corps of the FDFA in 1992.
Ambassador Luzius Wasescha (*1946), Dr. iur., from 1 April 2007, head of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the WTO and EFTA (ECE/UN, UNCTAD, ITC) in Geneva, Federal Council Delegate for Trade Agreements and Switzerland's chief negotiator in WTO negotiations. Previously head of the World Trade Division in the Foreign Economic Affairs Directorate since 01.10.2003. Prior to that, head of Strategy and Coordination - WTO from 01.07.1999. From 1994 chief negotiator in the bilateral negotiations with the EU on public procurement. Vice-Director of the FOFEA from 1995 to 1999 and head of the World Trade-GATT Division at the FOFEA. He entered the federal administration in 1980 as a legal officer in the FDEA/FDFA Integration Office.
