Singapore will get a new Swiss ambassador next month to replace Thomas Kupfer, who is retiring and returning to Switzerland and Italy.
Fabrice Filliez is Switzerland's new ambassador to Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, effective next month, the Swiss Embassy in Singapore said in a statement.
The 22-year veteran of the Swiss diplomatic corps takes up the Singapore-based job after five years as ambassador for multilateral tax issues at the Swiss State Secretariat for International Financial Matters, the country's main diplomacy arm for tax and financial matters.
Specifically, Filliez represented Switzerland in talks within the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of Information. Previously, he headed economy and finance at the Swiss Embassy in London from 2009 to 2013 and was in charge of political coordination at the Directorate for European Affairs in Bern from 2005 to 2009. He was head of legal affairs in the Swiss Mission to the European Union in Brussels from 2002 to 2005.
Valais Native
Originally from the mountainous canton of Valais, Ambassador Filliez completed his law studies in Geneva and Brussels. He is married and has a son.
Presidential Visits
In August 2012, Kupfer arrived in Singapore from Seoul. He built on the well-established ties between the two countries, including between its financial firms. The strong presence of roughly 5,000 Swiss citizens, the more than 400 Swiss companies and the Swiss institutions and partners like the Swiss Club, Swiss School, Swiss Cham and Swiss Association aided his work.
Looking back on his term of office in Singapore, two presidential visits stand out, Kupfer told finews.asia. The first was Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam's visit to Switzerland in May 2014, and then a 2016 state visit to Singapore by Switzerland’s then-President Johann Schneider-Ammann.
Another diplomatic milestone was the festivities around the 50 years jubilee of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Switzerland last year.
