It is a great pleasure for me, as the new Ambassador of Switzerland to Canada, to address my greetings to the readers of the Info Suisse magazine, which focuses this time on education and training. I also take this opportunity to thank the Swiss Canadian Chambers of Commerce Ontario and Quebec for their dedicated work. They have been reliable partners for Swiss and Canadian companies for almost half a century.

For more than 25 years I have been travelling the world as a diplomat, and I am happy to be back in Canada. I discovered this beautiful country during my studies at the University of British Columbia and since then hoped to be able to live in Canada. I am looking forward to put all my expertise and my commitment to the promotion of the bilateral relations between Switzerland and Canada.

The Swiss Canadian Chambers of Commerce Ontario and Quebec are important actors in the promotion and reinforcement of the business relations between Switzerland and Canada. Canada is for Switzerland the second largest trading partner in the Americas. Switzerland is also the 5th ranked investor in Canada, generating about 63’000 jobs.

However, investment and trade opportunities are not the only priority in our relationship with Canada. The knowledge economy is also a vigorous driver for our two countries’ economies. “Grey cells” are highly sought-after export products and innovation is a sustainable resource. Speaking of innovation: for the fourth time in a row, Switzerland has been crowned as the world innovation leader according to the Cornell University/INSEAD/WIPO Global Innovation Index.

Education, research and innovation have become principal economic assets of Switzerland. Its high public education standards, as well as its dual-track professional education system, founded on a solid public-private partnership and uniquely combining the theoretical approach and the practical experience of the professional careers, are internationally recognized. With its extremely low youth unemployment rate, Switzerland offers a success story that we want to share and foster abroad.

I can thus only applaud the Editorial Board of Info Suisse for their initiative to launch an edition specifically dedicated to the topic of Swiss and Canadian education and training systems. I would also like to express my support for the efforts to promote and encourage a dialogue on these most appreciated Swiss institutions.

I wish you an insightful reading.