Raymond Loretan, the new President of the Foundation, took up his position in January 2018, succeeding Carlo Lamprecht, who had served as president since the creation of the foundation in 2011. He will continue to develop the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève at national and international level and guarantee the strict independence and neutrality of the Grand Prix. He will also explore new modes of cooperation and continue to promote the Swiss watch industry both at a global level.
Loretan has moved from diplomacy to economics, politics, the media and business. After graduating with a law degree from the University of Fribourg and a degree in European law from the University of Strasbourg, he began his career with an internship at the United Nations in New York and The Hague. He was recruited to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in 1983 and worked as Diplomatic Secretary of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Edouard Brunner, then as personal assistant to Federal Council Arnold Koller at the Federal Department of Defence and at the Federal Department of Justice and Police between 1987 and 1990. He served as Swiss Ambassador to Singapore and Brunei from 1997 to 2003 and then as Swiss Consul General in New York until 2007. He is the incumbent President of the Diplomatic Club of Geneva.
From 1993 to 1997 he was Secretary General of the Swiss PDC (Christian Democratic People’s Party). In 2008, he was elected a member of the Geneva’s Constituent Assembly with a seat on the Territorial Organisation and External Relations Commission. Since 2016, he has been Chair of the Lake Crossing Consultative Commission. He also chaired the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) from 2012 to 2015 and in 2017 took the helm of the Board of the new AGEFI financial daily. He is also Executive Chairman of Swiss Medical Network since 2007 and officiates as Vice-Chairman of Aevis Holding and holds various other directorships.
