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Speaker: H.E. Mr. Paul Fivat

Ambassador of Switzerland to Japan

“Reflections on Swiss-Japanese ties and future prospects”

Date: 6 December 2007

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Ambassador Paul Fivat joined the Swiss Foreign Ministry in 1980 after studies in economics and economic history at the Universities of Basel and Lausanne and a professional experience in financial services. He worked for more than ten years in the Economic and Financial Division of the Ministry before heading the Economic section of the Swiss Embassy in Germany and serving as Deputy Head of the Swiss Mission with the European Union in Brussels from 1996-2002. Ambassador Fivat then headed the Division for Middle East and Africa in Berne, before being appointed Ambassador of Switzerland in Japan in August 2006. His main areas of interest are history, economics, literature and philosophy

Roundtable Topic

Switzerland and Japan have traditionally had a rich and multilayered relationship which continues to this day. In addition to full diplomatic relations, many other exchanges between the countries flourish. Japanese love the natural beauty and diversity of Switzerland; and for the Swiss, Japan represents a unique mixture of tradition and modernity. Cultural and business relations between the two countries also run deep: Japanese musicians regularly appear in Swiss concert halls and exhibitions of Japanese art can be seen in Swiss museums. On the business side, trade and investment have reached an important level while new prospects for intensification have arisen from the launching, at the beginning of 2007, of negotiations for a bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as well as from the recent conclusion of a Science and Technology Agreement. Both countries have reached the level of highly developed knowledge societies and scope for synergies between universities and enterprises can be expected to increase in the future.

Hiroshima and Switzerland, too, have a special connection. At the entrance to the Peace Memorial Park stands the stone dedicated to Dr. Marcel Junod, head of delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Japan during WWII and the first foreign doctor to enter Hiroshima after the atomic bombing. The inspiration of Geneva, as a model for the city of peace that Hiroshima aspired to become, was strong and in 1949 Mayor Hamai invoked the name of the city in his speech 'Geneva in the new age'. With the establishment of Geneva's humanitarian vocation in the 19th century, and through the setting up of the ICRC, the citizens of Geneva opted for a different approach to attempt to solve conflicts and humanitarian crises. And like Hiroshima today, Geneva continues to question how to best honour its past vocation while making a tangible contribution towards solving the problems and conflicts of the 21st century.

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