Helene Budliger Artieda

State Secretary Helene Budliger Artieda has been director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) since 1 August 2022. Prior to that, she was Switzerland’s ambassador in Thailand, with additional accreditations to Cambodia and Laos. Until 2019, she held the same position in South Africa, with cross-accreditations to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mauritius and Namibia.

From 2008 to 2015, she was head of the Directorate for Resources at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and a member of the FDFA Management Board. In 2000 she graduated from the Universidad Externado de Colombia with a Master of Business Administration (MBA). After graduating from commercial school in Zurich with a Federal VET Diploma in Commerce, she completed FDFA internal training as a consular officer.