Dr. Arno Hold

Dr. Arno Hold currently serves as the Executive Director for Geopolicy, Trade & Competitiveness at Novartis, a multinational innovative medicines company.

Prior to this, he founded Hold Consulting, a Zurich-based boutique advisory firm specialising in international trade, innovation, and regulatory strategy. He also served as Executive Director of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI).

In academia, Arno held positions as Dean and Lecturer at the University of St. Gallen and has been a Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE), the University of Hong Kong, the South-Western University of Finance & Economics in Chengdu, and the World Trade Institute (WTI) in Bern.

Earlier in his career, he was a Project Director and Coordinator of International Cooperation at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI). His additional experience includes roles at a Geneva-based think tank, a consulting firm in Singapore, as well as internships at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and the Strategic Leadership Training Section of the Swiss Federal Chancellery.

Arno holds a Ph.D. in International Affairs and Political Economy from the University of St. Gallen, completed the Senior Executive Fellowship Program at Harvard Kennedy School, and is a graduate of the World Trade Institute’s Master of International Law and Economics (MILE) programme.