Fondation Pour Genève president Ivan Pictet hands over the reins to Marc Pictet
Ivan Pictet has officially stepped down as president of the Fondation Pour Genève after 22 years at the helm.
The banker and long-time advocate of international Geneva has handed over the reins to Marc Pictet, partner at Pictet & Cie Group.
He became president in 1998 when it merged with the Foundation "Un Avenir pour Genève" which he himself created in 1994 with Yves Oltramare to strengthen the public-private partnership around International Geneva.
Under Pictet’s presidency, the foundation took off by multiplying initiatives and activities to promote international Geneva both in Switzerland and around the world. He also initiated many projects aimed at promoting the reception and integration of internationals in Geneva.
Working with the Federal and Geneva authorities, the foundation helped develop associative structures such as the Reception Center of International Geneva (CAGI) for the reception of new arrivals, the International Circle for Social Relations between Geneva and internationals, the Diplomatic Club of Geneva for synergies between government, academia and private circles or the Eduki Foundation for the development of educational programs on international cooperation for teachers and secondary school students.
It has also launched numerous studies on the current and future issues and challenges facing Geneva as an international hub - most recently on the future of internet governance in Geneva.
Both the federal and Geneva authorities, as well as the UN and its partners, paid tribute to the role played by the foundation and its outgoing president.
"For more than 20 years, Ivan Pictet has been personally involved in and interested in the work of international institutions and in multilateral cooperation. He was keen to help promote the influence of these institutions." - Ignazio Cassis, Swiss federal councillor.
Pictet will now be turning his attention to a new large-scale project, the "Portail des Nations", which aims to endow Geneva and more particularly the Palais des Nations with a center of information on multilateralism, the work of the United Nations and the challenges of tomorrow.
The Fondation Pour Genève recently announced it will be supporting Geneva Solutions as one of its funding partners in 2021.