Presence Switzerland
| Presence Switzerland | |
|---|---|
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| Headquarters |
Bern , Bundesgasse 32 
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| Chief | Nicolas Bideau (Director) |
| At sight | Federal Department of Foreign Affairs , General Secretariat |
| Website | Presence Switzerland on eda. admin.ch |
Presence Switzerland is an organizational unit of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and deals with matters of public diplomacy and nation branding and is responsible for Switzerland's presence abroad in these areas. The organizational unit implements the strategy of the Swiss government, the Federal Council , for Swiss national communications.
Foundation and mandate
It is the successor organization to the Coordination Commission for the Presence of Switzerland Abroad (KOKO), whose last major project was the realization of the Swiss pavilion at the Expo 2000 Hanover .
The office was founded as a decentralized administrative unit by resolution of the Swiss Parliament on March 24, 2000 and administratively assigned to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The law and ordinance on maintaining the Swiss corporate image abroad came into force on November 15, 2000. By resolution of the Federal Council on September 3, 2008, the organization was fully integrated into the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs on January 1, 2009. It reports to the EDA General Secretary. Nicolas Bideau has been the director since 2011.
The organizational unit was founded in order to “promote the worldwide communication of an authentic image of modern Switzerland”. The statutory permanent tasks of national communication are to promote Switzerland's visibility abroad, to explain Switzerland's political concerns and positions to a foreign public and to develop and maintain Switzerland's network of relationships with decision-makers and opinion leaders abroad.
The organizational unit implements this assignment with projects abroad, inviting foreign media representatives and decision-makers to Switzerland, developing and distributing information media about Switzerland abroad, and Switzerland appearing at major international events such as world exhibitions (Swiss pavilion: last time with the Swiss Pavilion Expo 2012 Yeosu , next time at Expo 2015 in Milan) or at the Olympic Games ( House of Switzerland ). The Swiss brand, which defines the main messages and the visual appearance of Switzerland abroad, forms the basis for all activities of Presence Switzerland .
With effect from January 1, 2009, the Federal Council has assigned the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, namely Presence Switzerland, new tasks in the area of image threats and crises: If Switzerland's reputation abroad is seriously threatened or if an image crisis has already occurred, submit this Federal Department of Foreign Affairs presented the Federal Council with a communication concept. As a basis for this, Presence Switzerland, in cooperation with the Swiss diplomatic missions abroad, is intensifying the monitoring and analysis of foreign media reporting on Switzerland and topics relevant to Switzerland (Issues Monitoring).
In fulfilling its statutory mandate, the organizational unit works closely with other state and private actors and coordinates their cooperation within the framework of programs and large-scale projects for national communication.
The organizational unit also published swissworld .org , Switzerland's official cultural history portal .
See also
- Switzerland Tourism - federal tourism marketing
- Swissness
Legal sources
Law and ordinance on the institution:
- Federal Act of March 24, 2000 on Maintaining the Swiss Appearance Abroad
- Ordinance of December 12, 2008 on maintaining the Swiss image abroad (national communication ordinance)
literature
- Daniel Trachsler: National Image Promotion for Switzerland: Overrated or Indispensable? Center for Security Studies (CSS), 2012, doi : 10.3929 / ethz-a-007564187 ( Weblink , pdf , both ethz.ch).
Web links
- Presence Switzerland on eda. admin.ch
- Country communication on eda. admin.ch
- Discover Switzerland
- Official website of the House of Switzerland