Ambassador Didier Chambovey

Didier Chambovey was born in 1961 in Sion, Switzerland, where he studied high school. He holds a PhD degree in economics from Lausanne University (HEC). He joined the Swiss Confederation in 1987 at the former Federal Office for Foreign Economic Affairs (now SECO) and took part in the Uruguay Round negotiations conducted under the aegis of the GATT. From 1990 to 1993 he dealt with Economic Support to Central and Eastern European Countries in the same Office. In 1993, he was appointed Head of section at the WTO Division. From 1998 to 2006, Didier Chambovey served as Deputy Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for Switzerland and, from 2006 to 2011, he was Deputy Secretary-General of EFTA. In September 2011, he was appointed as Delegate for Trade Agreements of the Swiss Federal Government and chief negotiator at the WTO and EFTA (SECO, Berne). From 2016 to August 2023, he was Head of the Swiss Mission to the WTO and EFTA (UNCTAD, UNECE, ITC) in Geneva. He retired from the Swiss Confederation in September 2023 and became an independent expert in international trade.

Didier Chambovey also served on WTO dispute settlement panels and chaired, among others, the WTO General Council and the OECD Trade Committee. As a teaching assistant or lecturer, he taught at the universities of Lausanne and Neuchâtel. He is the author of articles and papers on international trade and demography. In his spare time, he plays classical guitar and enjoys reading books on economics and history. Didier Chambovey speaks French (mother tongue), English and German.