SECO’s Executive Management
SECO's Executive Management consists of the members of the Management Board, the heads of the service areas, the head of the Permanent Mission in Geneva and the Directorate Staff. The SECO Executive Management is a key instrument for reflecting on strategic issues. It is heavily involved in organisational development issues and actively participates in the development of the Management Board's strategy, positions and decision-making.
Pascal Richoz
Pascal Richoz (*1963), lic. ès lettres, holds a CAS in public sector financial management and has headed the Working Conditions Division since 1 September 2008. Having begun his career at the Fribourg cantonal administration, he started working for the federal government in 1989. He is active in the area of international protection and has performed various roles on behalf of the Refugees Delegate, the Federal Office for Refugees and the Federal Office for Migration. Before joining SECO, he was in charge of an Asylum Procedure Division.
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Thomas A. Zimmermann
Ambassador Thomas A. Zimmermann (*1971), Dr. oec. HSG, Delegate of the Federal Council for Trade Agreements and head of the Special Foreign Economic Service Division in the Foreign Economic Affairs Directorate since 1st September 2020.. Previously head of the Organisation, Law and Accreditation Directorate (2009-2020), head of the Staff Unit (2006 – 2009) and Senior Desk Officer for North America in the Bilateral Economic Relations Division from (2003 – 2006). Research Assistant at the Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economic Research at the University of St. Gallen (SIAW-HSG) from 1998-2003. He continues to be a Research Associate at the SIAW-HSG and is a lecturer in international economic policy as a supplementary occupation.
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Erwin Bollinger
Ambassador Erwin Bollinger (*1962), Attorney, LLM, Head of the Swiss Permanent Mission to the WTO and EFTA in Geneva since 1st September 2023. From 2018 to 2023 he was Head of Bilateral Economic Relations Division and Federal Council Delegate for Trade Agreements. From 2008 to 2018 he was Head of the Export Controls and Sanctions Section and Dep. Head of the Bilateral Economic Relations Division. From 2005 – 2008 he was Head of Export Control Policy. From 2003 to 2005 he was Dep. Head of Bilateral Economic Relations Europe/Central Asia. From 1999 to 2003 Counsellor at the Swiss Mission to the EU in Brussels. He joined the Federal Administration in 1992 starting at the former Integration Office FDFA/FDEA, transferring to the former Federal Office for Foreign Economic Affairs, World Trade/WTO Section in 1995. Between 1989 and 1992 he worked at swissmedic, becoming Dep. Head of the Legal Affairs Service in 1991.
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Maryline Basset
Maryline Basset (*1975) holds a Master degree from the University of Geneva and a Master of Business Administration from a business management school in Sydney. She has been head of SECO's Executive Staff since 1 July 2023. Between 2003 and 2016 she worked in Geneva as a project manager at economiesuisse, as a political communications adviser and at Rochat & Partners, as head of public relations and media planning at Raymond Weil, and as communications manager at the Haute école de santé (University of Health Sciences). In 2016, she joined the Federal Administration as a senior adviser to the General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), in charge of Federal Council and parliamentary affairs. Since February 2019, she has been special adviser to the head of the EAER and rapporteur at SECO.
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Simon Plüss
Ambassador Simon Plüss (*1969), lic. iur., has been head of the Export Controls and Sanctions Division since 1 September 2023. He joined the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO as head of Export Controls/War Material in July 2006. Since 1 July 2018, he has also held the position of deputy head of the Bilateral Economic Relations Division. From 2000 to 2006, he was deputy head of the Air Force Legal Service at the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport DDPS. From 1999 to 2000, Simon Plüss served as court secretary at the Criminal Court in Bern. He graduated from the University of Bern with a law degree in 2000 and continued his studies in 2010 obtaining an International Executive MBA Zurich/Boston ZfU.
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Valerie Berger
Valerie Berger (*1980), Master of Law (MLaw), has been head of the Free Movement of Persons and Labour Relations Division since 1 October 2023. She was previously head of the Labour Market Supervision Section between August 2022 and September 2023 and head of the Collective Labour Agreements Section between July 2016 and July 2022. She joined SECO on 1 February 2007, where she worked as a legal specialist in the Labour Directorate, Free Movement of Persons and Labour Relations Division, Labour Market Supervision Section until June 2016.
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Andrea Rauber Saxer
Ambassador Andrea Rauber Saxer (*1968) lic. Iur. und Master of Law & Diplomacy, has been head of the Bilateral Economic Relations Divisions since 1 January 2024 and Federal Council Delegate for Trade Agreements. Before taking up this post she was head of Human Resources at the FDFA in the Directorate for Resources from August 2020. From August 2016 to July 2020 Andrea Rauber Saxer served as Ambassador at the Swiss Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina following her move from the Swiss Mission to the OSCE in Vienna where she was deputy head of mission. From September 2008 to January 2011, she served as diplomatic advisor to President Merz (FDF) and President Leuthard (FDEA/DETEC). From 2000 to 2005, she was deputy head of Free Movement of Persons/Schengen/Dublin at the FDFA/FDEA Integration Office, and then Special Representative for International Air Transport Negotiations at the Federal Office of Civil Aviation until 2008. After working as a court registrar at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague in 1995, Andrea Rauber Saxer joined the FDFA as a research assistant in 1996.
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Corina Müller Könz
Corina Müller Könz (*1969), lic. iur. and attorney, has been co-head of the Working Conditions Division in the Labour Directorate at SECO since 1 May 2024. She is a member of the management board, represents SECO in the interdepartmental Chemicals Steering Committee and is vice president of the Federal Coordination Commission for Occupational Safety. From 2010 to 2024, she was head of the Legal Affairs and Oversight Section in the Working Conditions Division. From 2000 to 2010, she was Head of Legal Affairs and a member of the management team at the Federal Office for Gender Equality in the FDHA. Prior to that, she worked at the Guardianship Service of Biel/Bienne. Corina Müller Könz began her law studies at the University of Fribourg, which included a year abroad at the Universidad Central de Barcelona, and graduated in 1994 with a bilingual degree. She was admitted to the bar in the Canton of Bern in 1998.
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Martin Godel
Martin Godel (*1973) holds Master’s degrees in international relations and in law and diplomacy. He has been head of the Labour Market and Unemployment Insurance division in the Labour Directorate since 1 September 2024. From 2011, he was head of the SME Policy division and deputy head of the Promotion Activities Directorate. From 2007 to 2010 he headed the Swiss Business Hub as a Counsellor of the Embassy in Japan. From 2005 to 2007, he was a senior advisor in the Services division of the Foreign Economic Affairs Directorate and prior to that personal assistant to the Federal Council Delegate for Trade Agreements. Martin Godel joined SECO in 2002.
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Roger Gschwend
Ambassador Roger Gschwend (*1976), lic. iur. LL.M, has been Head of the World Trade Division in SECO's Foreign Economic Affairs Directorate since 1 October 2024. From 2016 to 2024, he headed SECO's International Economic Law Section. Prior to that, he worked as Senior Legal Counsel and Country Trade Compliance Officer at ABB Switzerland (2012-2015). Until 2012, he was Senior Legal Officer (2009-2012) and an expert in the free movement of goods and origin (2006-2009) at the European Free Trade Association EFTA. From 2004 to 2006, he worked for the Federal Customs Administration and was seconded as a lawyer and customs expert to the European Commission in Brussels. From 2002 to 2004, he worked as a lawyer in the legal service of the Federal Customs Administration in Bern (2002-2004) and before that as a customs expert at various customs offices (1996-2002). Roger Gschwend completed his law studies at the University of Zurich in 2003, pursued training as a mediator at the University of St. Gallen in 2014 and obtained an LL.M in Economic Regulation at the University of London in 2021.
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Pietro Lazzeri
Ambassador Pietro Lazzeri (*1973) has been Head of the Economic Cooperation and Development since 1 September 2025 and Delegate of the Swiss Government for Trade Agreements. He was the Swiss Ambassador to Brazil from 2021 to 2025 and to Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea from 2017 to 2021. From 2013 to 2017, he was deputy head of mission in Italy and, between 2011 and 2013, he held the same position in Venezuela. Between 2007 and 2011, he was deputy head of the Section for Humanitarian Policy and Migration within the Peace and Human Rights Division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). He worked from 2004 to 2007 as deputy head of mission in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras and from 2002 to 2003 in Vietnam. Between 1997 and 2002, he held various positions within the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), at the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), as well as a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Pietro Lazzeri holds a degree in history and economic history, and a master’s degree in international relations.
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Anja Simma
Anja Simma (*1969), who holds a doctorate in technical sciences, has headed the Swiss Accreditation Service (SAS) since 1 December 2024. Since 1 June 2026, she has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).After completing a postdoc at ETH Zurich, she joined the Federal Administration in 2002, spending 11 years of that time at the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO). There, she was responsible for traffic information systems and analysis; her area of expertise was traffic and infrastructure safety, a subject she also taught as a lecturer at ETH Zurich. Before moving to SECO, she was co-head of the Canton of Bern's Office for Forests and Natural Hazards from 2022 to 2024.
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Contact
Holzikofenweg 36
CH - 3003 Bern