Alain Berset studied political science and economics at the University of Neuchâtel and graduated with a doctorate in 2005. He then worked as a visiting researcher at the Institute for Economic Research in Hamburg before becoming a strategic advisor at the Department of Economic Affairs for the canton of Neuchâtel. In 2006, he founded his own business as an independent strategy and communications consultant. Three years earlier, he was elected to the Council of States for the canton of Fribourg, which he chaired in 2008/2009. From 2005, he also served as the vice president of the Social Democratic group and was a member of numerous parliamentary commissions. He chaired the Council Office, the Political Institutions Committee and the Delegation of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie. Mr Berset has been head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) since 2012 and will be President of the Confederation for the second time in 2023.
2023
In his opening speech at SEF.2023, the President of the Swiss Confederation, Alain Berset, pleaded for the urgent need to rebuild trust between business, politics and society in Switzerland. «Cooperation is the greatest strength of our country.» It produces stable institutions that promote our core values such as fairness, exchange and freedom and make Switzerland a highly successful country. For 25 years now, the SEF has been one of these institutions, Berset praised. «The SEF facilitates dialogue that values the words more than the sender.» In addition, the SEF enables Swiss entrepreneurs to learn from the best.
The SP Minister of the Interior went on to warn, in the words of Adam Smith (1723-1790), known as an advocate of the free market, not to let inequalities become too great: «The condition of a good economy is that everyone should be reasonably well off.»
