House of Switzerland • World Economic Forum 2024

The House of Switzerland with its events and meetings serves to safeguard Switzerland's interests abroad and shows Switzerland as an innovative and reliable partner that can make an important contribution with its excellence in various fields to jointly tackle today’s major global challenges. 

The WEF is known for its ability to bring together representatives from the political, economic, social, scientific and media areas of over 90 countries in an inspiring setting in the heart of the Swiss Alps, that fosters new thoughts and fresh ideas. It is a great opportunity for the Federal Council and the Swiss delegation to engage with public and private actors from around the world who gather in Davos. To this end, the House of Switzerland serves as the communication and networking platform for official Switzerland. 

From 16 to 18 January 2024, Presence Switzerland of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in collaboration with various institutional partners hosted a multifaced events programme at the House of Switzerland Davos with a focus on foreign policy issues, while in parallel also addressing the major themes of the 54th WEF: exploring the opportunities offered by new technologies and their implications for decision-making and partnership at the global level. The program thus dealt with a multitude of topics and issues.

Starting on Tuesday 16 January with a panel about the transformation of food systems with the Federal Office for Agriculture, followed by the “Geneva Day”. Promoted by the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva in collaboration with many partners, among which the FDFA’s Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the “Geneva Day” aimed of putting forward the atouts of International Geneva in a complex world. The focus lay on the impactful and effective sustainable financing – a catalyst for genuine transformative change, on the inequalities when it comes to connectivity in terms both of infrastructure and financing, on support for humanitarian demining in Ukraine and on the impact of AI in advancing the sustainable development goals.

On Wednesday 17 January, the focus shifted to energy and infrastructure, thanks to a reflection by the Federal Office of Energy and Team Switzerland (Swissmem, Swissrail, Suisse Ing., SECO, SERV and S-GE), hosting Brazil as the guest country at the House of Switzerland. The topics addressed the transformation of our global energy system in its movement from strategy to concrete implementation and financing. Furthermore, the essential role of Swiss expertise in reshaping large-scale global infrastructure projects, in particular in the mobility and sanitation fields, was highlighted. Moreover, speaking of Brazil, one could not abstract from the Amazon rainforest, which gave Swissnex Brazil in partnership with ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich the opportunity to discuss the role of nature and conservation in mitigating climate change and ranged from local to global action. In parallel, the Swiss Federal Statistical Office looked at Data Governance: how could or should we use this data to fight fake news?

On Thursday 18 January the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation presented a series of emerging technologies, where Switzerland is at the forefront and for which a high economic potential in Switzerland has been identified. The Peace and Human Rights Division of the FDFA in collaboration with the Institute for Human Rights and Business, for its part, discussed the financing of a “just transition”, the ways in which blended capital approaches can incorporate both social risk and social opportunities. In parallel, the House of Switzerland in cooperation with the WEF itself welcomed the community of the Global Shapers, gathering changemakers and entrepreneurs under the age of 30 believing in solution-building, policy-making and lasting change.

The House of Switzerland was set up at the ice hockey stadium in the heart of Davos. This centre was designed to transcend its physical location, serving as a symbolic crossroads for exchange, a meeting point for today's decision-makers and those of tomorrow, and fertile soil for the birth of ideas and innovations in a warm and welcoming environment.

House of Switzerland's operation at the WEF in Davos was facilitated by a long-standing partnership with the Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (FOBL). The FOBL lent its expertise and personnel support in venue setup, logistics, and event and access management. This year, GAMMA CATERING was in charge of offering the attendees delicious food and culinary creativity. The catering specialists took pride in their dishes, which featured tasty products supplied by a variety of providers, including:

Dried meat from Fleischzentrum Davos Klosters AG; meat from Stiffler Metzgerei AG, Davos; baked goods from Schneider's Davos AG; dairy products from Molkerei Davos Betreibs AG; potatoes from Freddy Christandl & Marcel Heinrich Tschalèr (Albulatal); fruit and vegetables from Adank Davos AG; jams and marmalade from Manuel Zimmer, Davos; char from Capeder Food / Lumare GmbH, Cumbel, Graubünden; salmon from Swiss Lachs - Swiss Alpine Fish AG, Lostallo, Graübunden; wine from Kaufmann Weinhandlung AG, Davos; beverages from Meisser Getränke Kultur AG, Davos; tea from Vreni's Teekanne, Davos; coffee from Rösterei Keller, Zizers Graubünden.

In addition to sourcing from many local and regional suppliers, House of Switzerland engaged beelong.ch to certify all dishes using their comprehensive environmental rating system. As a result, every dish was awarded a 'green' ECO-Score rating. This commitment underscored House of Switzerland in Davos' significant contribution to the sustainable organisation of events.

The House of Switzerland at the WEF was a success story that started in 2019. In 2023 alone, it hosted more than 50 bilateral meetings, 12 thematic events and 6 press conferences, bringing together over a thousand participants. Now a hallmark of quality and continuity for federal institutions and public and private actors, the House of Switzerland Davos again served as the platform facilitating relations and communications at the Forum.

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