Information

Date & Time:

January 20^th, 2023

Venue:

Beau-Rivage Hotel Neuchâtel*****

Esp. du Mont-Blanc 2000 Neuchâtel

Language: English

Price:

Whole day (including flying lunch + afterwork)

Member*: CHF 700. // CHF 600.- for other participants of the same company

Non-member: CHF 850. // CHF 750.- for other participants of the same company

On request, it is possible to stay overnight at a preferential price. If you have an interest, please contact us directly.

*Applicable to all members of: the Swiss Centers, SCCC, SRSSC, Microcity and the CNCI. Please mention clearly if you are affiliated to one of these organizations.

Registration:

The seminar will be limited to 25 people and will be confirmed upon the reception of the payment.

Please send an E-mail to Mr. Romain BARRABAS, China Market Access Manager of the Swiss Centers by indicating the following information by December 31^st December, 2022: Full name, Company name, Job title, Email address, Phone number.

Speakers

Romain Barrabas
China Market Access Manager of the Swiss Centers

Graduating in 2013 with a Multidisciplinary Master in Asian Studies (University of Geneva, Graduate Institute Geneva), Romain is currently based in Switzerland where he works for the Swiss Centers, a non-profit organization that has been supporting Swiss companies wishing to expand into China for over 20 years.

He spent most of the last decade in China: first in Nanjing to perfect his Mandarin and then in Shanghai in event management and communication for the watch manufacturer Breguet. He then spent more than 6 years in Beijing, at the Swiss Chamber of Commerce (SwissCham Beijing) as Marketing & Events Manager and then General Manager. Romain was then employed by the Embassy of Switzerland as Deputy Head of the Culture & Media Section. Finally, he chaired the Swiss School of Beijing for more than 3 years where he still serves as a member of the Board of Directors.

In Switzerland, he has held positions in communication and sales for the watch brands Baume & Mercier and Girard-Perregaux.

Jürg Burri
Ambassador of Switzerland to People's Republic of China, Mongolia and DPRK

Jürg Burri is the Ambassador of Switzerland to People's Republic of China, Mongolia, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea since September 2022. Before his new tenure in Beijing, Jürg Burri was the Ambassador of Switzerland in Poland, Warsaw from 2018-2022. He previously served as minister and deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Switzerland in China from 2006-2009.

Jean-Jacques de Dardel

President, Swiss Centers Foundation

Jean-Jacques de Dardel has taken over the presidency of the Swiss Centers Foundation in 2020. Consultant, Board President and member, Advisory board member, International School Group President. Formerly Ambassador to The People's Republic of China, to Mongolia and the DPRK (2014-2019). Previously Ambassador to France and Monaco (2011-2014), UNESCO and OIF (2013). Head, Swiss Mission to NATO and Ambassador to Belgium. Former Head of the Swiss DFA Division in charge of Europe, Central Asia, Council of Europe and OSCE. In 2001, he founded and directed the DFA Centre for International Security Policy. Ambassador to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie until 2000, previous postings in Paris, Canberra, Washington, Vienna, Bern.

Tomas Casas i Klett

Director of the China Competence Center at the University of St.Gallen

Dr. Casas i Klett is a permanent faculty at the University of St.Gallen and the Director of the China Competence Center (CCC) at the Research Institute for International Management (FIM-HSG). He is also a visiting professor at universities in China, including the Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management (SEM) or Fudan University’s School of Management. His research on sustainable value creation has seen him advance the Elite Quality Index (EQx) which places the agency of elites at the center of structural reform initiatives. Other research areas of interest include China’s economy and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), team performance (e.g., see China team myths), free-trade agreements (FTAs), or narrative economics.

Nicolas Musy
Founder of the Swiss Centers & Founding Partner of China Integrated

Nicolas Musy holds a MSc. in Physics Engineering from the EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne). He has won his university’s first Special Alumni Award for demonstrating outstanding innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. He has been responsible to establish EPFL’s presence in China and his Alma Mater cooperation with Chinese top universities and the Chinese Academy of Science. In addition, he developed and ran the 2-week China Module of the EPFL EMBA in entrepreneurship.

Exclusively involved in China trade, investment, research, strategy and project management, he has resided in the Shanghai area since 1988. He founded the Swiss Centers, co-founded the first Swiss industrial SME in China, Suzhou 2-ply Co. Ltd and is the Managing Director of LX Precision. As Founding Partner of China Integrated (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Nicolas has successfully supported a number of multinationals and over 100 mid-sized companies for their legal set-up, market entry, operations management, business acquisition, conflict resolution and restructuring.

Fedor Poskriakov

Partner at Lenz & Staehelin

Fedor Poskriakov is a partner at Lenz & Staehelin in the Banking and Finance group in Geneva and specializes in banking, securities and finance law with a focus on Fintech. He regularly advises on various regulatory, contractual and corporate matters. His practice covers banking, investment management and alternative investments, including private equity and hedge funds. He also advises on complex asset structuring and protection for business and private assets. He co-heads the Geneva FinTech practice and is the secretary general of the Capital Markets and Technology Association (CMTA). He has developed expertise in advising on new technologies, including distributed ledger (and blockchain), as well as novel FinTech business models.

Felix Sutter

President, Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commere (SCCC)

Felix Sutter serves as the President of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (SCCC) since 2015. He is the co-founder of Succeed Consulting GmbH with the mission of connecting innovative Swiss and Chinese companies, entrepreneurs and investors. Felix Sutter has been a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Switzerland for more than 19 years. He had also taken up overseas secondments as a Partner for PwC in Beijing and Singapore. He is engaged by PwC as a Business Consultant to support Asia Business Group activities.

Dr. iur. Clarisse von Wunschheim
Practicing lawyer and partner at the law firm Altenburger with offices in Zurich, Geneva and Lugano

Dr Clarisse von Wunschheim is Partner at Altenburger and the head of its China-Switzerland Business Advisory Services.

Born in Mexico, raised up in Germany and Switzerland and having spent 9 years living and working in Beijing, Clarisse is specialized in international and cross-cultural dispute resolution, in particular international arbitration and commercial mediation and with a focus on the European and Chinese market. Her main areas of practice include general contract law, agency and distribution, sales, joint ventures as well as other forms of foreign investment.

Clarisse is described by Who's Who Legal as a "fast, smart and solution-oriented lawyer" and is particularly appreciated by her clients and peers for her strategic thinking and inspirational mindset.

Zhen Xiao
CEO of the Swiss Centers

Zhen Xiao obtained his engineering education from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He then worked in Singapore and in Switzerland for more than 20 years as an engineer, researcher, and manager. He has been working with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne from 2005 to 2012 as China Relation Coordinator. Over the past 10 years, he has supported and advised many Swiss companies in business development in China, and successfully expanded the Swiss Centers  with new facilities and service.

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