Meet our New Board Member - Andre Jaeggi
Andre Jaeggi, Entrepreneure, Business Owner, and former Member of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Born in Basle in the very late 50's, I completed my education in Basle, before joining the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981. Until the end of 2009 I was posted to Montreal, Ankara, Brasilia, Athens, Houston, Berlin, Casablanca, Bern, Melbourne and Accra before settling permanently in Australia. First stop was Brisbane with Trade and Investment Queensland working at the European and sub Sahara Africa desk. A new challenge in the mining sector as Superintendent in remote Queensland was presented and I was able to acquire complete and different new skills for 2 years. In 2014 it was time to focus and spend more time with the family (two boys 10 and 8 years young today). With my Swiss Australian spouse, an Artist and Teacher, we returned to Melbourne in 2014 where i joined a Car Broker Business. The Business model inspired me to pursue the option buying the business. In March 2016, a friend of mine and I founded Australian Motor Vehicle Services and are gently expanding our personalized car buying service into all states and territories.
During my first stay in Melbourne 2002-2006 with the Consulate General of Switzerland (way before Facebook and iPhones) I was involved with the Victorian Chapter of SACCI, as SwissCham was called at the time. In 2003, Christian Stocker from the Royal Children Hospital in Melbourne and I founded the Swiss Academic Network Melbourne which is today known as SAAN.
I joined the Board of SwissCham because I strongly believe, Switzerland does have a excellent reputation. Terms which stick out are reliable, creative and innovative. The "Swiss Bonus" is clearly felt in Australia and an opportunity to convert into business opportunities other countries can only dream of. I am keen to contribute in building networks and personalize contacts between my home country and my new home country, which has offered my opportunities others can only dream of.
Presently I am working in Hobart exploring options to expand AMVS and SwissCham into Tasmania.
