Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin travels to the USA

On 19 and 20 April, Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, the head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, will hold talks on cooperation in the areas of research, innovation and vocational education and training in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. He will then travel on to Washington, where he will attend the World Bank's 2022 Spring Meetings in his capacity as Swiss Governor on 21 and 22 April.

In San Francisco Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin will discuss the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in vocational education and training between Switzerland and the USA with Swiss companies and authorities from the State of California. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in November 2021 by Mr Parmelin during his term as president, and by US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, US Secretary of Labour Marty Walsh, and US Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves.

During his visit to Silicon Valley, organised by Swissnex in San Francisco, Mr Parmelin will exchange views on cooperation between universities and technology companies in the field of future technologies and sustainability with representatives from Stanford University. Mr Parmelin will also discuss future economic and technological challenges and opportunities with business representatives and Swiss entrepreneurs.

Swissnex in San Francisco connects Switzerland and the USA in education, research, innovation and the arts, and assists partners with international networking and their efforts to exchange knowledge, ideas and talent.

Mr Parmelin will then attend the World Bank’s Spring Meetings in Washington on 21 and 22 April.