Silvan Wildhaber set to be elected as president of economiesuisse

(CONNECT) The Executive Committee of economiesuisse has unanimously proposed to the Board of Directors that Silvan Wildhaber should be named as the new president of the umbrella organization for the Swiss business sector, as detailed in a statement. It has therefore followed the recommendation of the Selection Committee. The Board of Directors is expected to elect Wildhaber as president in March and he will then step into the role in mid-September to coincide with the Day of the Swiss Economy.

Wildhaber, 48, has been CEO of the textile company Filtex AG, which is headquartered in St.Gallen, since 2012 and Chairman of the Board of Directors of its parent company Emil Anderegg AG. Wildhaber studied business administration at the University of St. Gallen before working for Credit Suisse. He has been with Filtex since 2006. Founded in 1919, the family-run company is active in the export of textiles and embroidery products.

Wildhaber has represented Swiss Textiles on the Board of Directors of economiesuisse since 2014, while he has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Swiss Employers’ Association since 2021. In the statement, he expresses his delight at the trust shown in him by the Executive Committee. “I want to highlight the political concerns of Swiss companies and their employees in plain terms and win over the hearts and minds of the Swiss people”, he explains.

Wildhaber will follow in the footsteps of Christoph Mäder, who has led the umbrella organization for the Swiss business sector for a total of six years. His successor in waiting is reportedly “ideally placed to lead economiesuisse successfully and further develop the organization in the years to come”, comments Mäder.

The most recent figure from a St.Gallen-based industrial textile company to be president of economiesuisse was Ueli Forster, who held this role from 2001 to 2006. ce/ug