Remigi Winzap appointed Switzerland’s Director at the EBRD
Bern, 21.03.2018 - On 21 March, the Federal Council appointed Remigi Winzap, currently responsible for trade policy dialogue between Switzerland and the UK at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), as Switzerland’s Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London. At the same time, the Federal Council also awarded him the title of ambassador. Mr Winzap will take up his duties on 1 September, succeeding Heinz Kaufmann, who is on the Board of Directors since 2013.
Remigi Winzap from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is currently responsible for trade policy dialogue between Switzerland and the United Kingdom and for leading negotiations on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). From 2012 to 2016, he was ambassador and head of Switzerland’s Permanent Mission to the WTO and other international economic organisations in Geneva (EFTA, UNCTAD, UNECE, ITC), and a member of SECO’s board of directors. From 2007 to 2012, he was head of SECO’s WTO section. From 2001 to 2006, Mr Winzap was embassy counsellor at the Swiss Mission in Brussels. Earlier stages in his career included a posting at the Swiss Embassy in Paris and participation in the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations on services. Before joining the Swiss Federal Administration, Mr Winzap worked for six years at the Swiss Bank Corporation (now UBS) in Geneva, Basel and New York. Mr Winzap studied law in Geneva and completed postgraduate studies in public administration at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in Paris.
Switzerland has been a member of the EBRD since 1991. The EBRD was founded after the political upheavals in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in a bid to support these countries in their democratisation and transformation to a market economy. The bank’s Board of Directors, consisting of 23 members, sets operational, financial and administrative policy. The directors decide on country and sector programmes, as well as on loans to finance development projects and programmes. Switzerland’s representative on the Board of Directors not only defends Switzerland’s interests, but also those of its constituency. Switzerland’s constituency at the EBRD consists of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Ukraine, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Montenegro and Turkmenistan.
Address for enquiries
Daniel Birchmeier,
Head, Multilateral Cooperation
Tel. 058 464 08 19,
daniel.birchmeier@seco.admin.ch
Publisher
The Federal Council
https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html
Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
http://www.wbf.admin.ch
