“There is room for improvement in increasing trade between our two countries, and that is clearly one of my priorities…”
At the start of his young career as an international lawyer, HE Mr Valentin Zellweger set foot on Kenyan soil to take up his first post. He dreamed of returning to Africa after this first successful experience, a mission accomplished since he served, for the last four years, as Ambassador of Switzerland to Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda. He was also Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Office based in Kenya. Having arrived in Morocco in autumn 2024, HE Mr Valentin Zellweger intends to structure his mission around three objectives: defending Swiss interests, intensifying ties between Morocco and Switzerland and making Morocco better known in Switzerland.
From his arrival in Morocco, he was immediately struck by the optimism of Moroccans and the country’s potential. “I find that Morocco, like other African countries, has great potential for the future, driven by a young and dynamic population and economic development that continues to grow”, he stresses. This optimism fuels his ambitions for relations between Switzerland and Morocco, particularly in the economic field, where he wishes to intensify trade, which currently stands at around 800 million Swiss francs. “There is great room for improvement in increasing trade, and that is clearly one of my priorities”, he adds. The Swiss government has moreover recently made Morocco a strategic partner by placing it on the list of priority countries. “This decision now enables us to intensify our cooperation with Morocco in the areas of competitiveness, job creation and strengthening the resilience of the Moroccan economy ”, explains the Ambassador.
Beyond economic relations, HE Mr Valentin Zellweger is also carrying the torch for political issues following the many initiatives undertaken by the two countries, notably the joint declaration of 2021.
An international career nourished by discovery
His professional career is also that of a man passionate about discovery and the cultures of the world. His first experiences in Asia, notably during two long trips to China and Tibet, then to India and Pakistan and all around the Indian subcontinent, in the 1980s, marked a turning point in his career, steering him towards international law. “These journeys profoundly shaped my vision of the world and motivated me to pursue a career that would allow me to understand global dynamics ”, he explains. Africa, and more particularly Morocco, represents for him a unique crossroads of cultures and influences: “Morocco is a model of openness and of managing this cultural richness. It is an example that Switzerland knows well, on a different scale ”.
Morocco in his childhood memories
HE Mr Valentin Zellweger’s story with Morocco began long before his arrival in Rabat. As a child, in the 1960s and 70s, he grew up in a house where family history was linked to a strong taste for distant cultures. “My ancestor, an architect by profession, was the one who had designed the house in which we lived. He was a man of taste, and through the objects he brought back from his travels in Morocco, a whole era takes shape”, he recounts. These objects – fezzes, pieces of zellige, finely carved woodwork – became for him a gateway into a Morocco that was both distant and fascinating. “Morocco, for me, became a dream place, very different from what I had known. And that is certainly where my passion for travel and the discovery of new cultures was born”, he recalls.
It is this very idea of a crossroads of cultures that strikes him most in his vision of Morocco. A country where Arab-Berber, Andalusian, African and Jewish influences meet and blend harmoniously. “What touches me in particular is the way Morocco has managed to preserve and build on this diversity. It is a model of openness and integration ”, he stresses.
During one of his trips to Essaouira, he witnessed the musical dialogue between Andalusia and Morocco, another meeting point that he finds particularly inspiring. “I had the chance to discover the links between Andalusian music and Moroccan music at the Festival des Andalousies Atlantiques. This meeting of cultures through music made a deep impression on me ”, he recounts. At the next Gnaoua Festival, in June, he is already looking forward to learning more about Morocco’s African identity, a theme that also feeds his curiosity.
The importance of family and travel
Beyond his diplomatic responsibilities, HE Mr Valentin Zellweger is married and the father of two daughters whom he is proud to see flourish and succeed in their respective careers. “My family is my greatest pride. I look forward to discovering Morocco with my wife and my daughters”, he confides. Indeed, travel and music are some of his greatest passions. He likes to immerse himself in local cultures and understand the different ways of facing life. When it comes to music, he remains faithful to Bob Dylan, the artist who has accompanied him throughout his life. And, since his arrival in Morocco, this lover of string instruments, who has notably played the guitar, has fallen under the spell of the sounds of the Oud, which he listens to in his car as well as at home: “ For me, music is a true bridge between cultures, and I look forward to further exploring the different facets of Moroccan music”.
A look at Switzerland: knowing oneself through elsewhere
When asked whether he misses life in Switzerland, he replies with conviction: “No, in reality, it is by being far away that one learns to know one’s country better. International experience gives us a fresh look at who we are and what we represent”. A way of learning more about Switzerland, of understanding even better its values, its role in Europe and its commitment on the international stage, and of representing it better in other lands.
If you were…
- If you were a colour, which one would you be? Green, because it symbolises nature, fertility, hope and optimism.
- A country? Switzerland.
- A dish? A platter of fruit, ideally seasonal.
- A time of day? I really like the morning, when the world wakes up, when I think about the day ahead and enjoy the calm of the beginning.
- An animal? A migratory bird, for its lightness and its freedom.
- A symbol of Switzerland? Direct democracy, where the people always have the last word.
- A superpower? Peace and prosperity for all.
- A book? Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I have read it at least 5 times.