Hardegger to take over as Swiss consul general in Mumbai

Switzerland has said that Othmar Hardegger would be the next consul general in Mumbai. He would succeed Martin Bienz in summer 2018, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said in a release. Born in 1963, Hardegger has served in Rome, Tehran, New York, Ottawa, Dresden, Bonn, Jeddah, Prague, Frankfurt, and Bern. He has been the head of the post in Ho Chi Minh City since 2014, the release issued on Tuesday said. He joined the FDFA in 1981.

Benz, the head of the post in Mumbai since October 2014, has been appointed as consul general in Guangzhou. "He joined the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in 1981 and was posted to Marseilles, Addis Ababa, Bogot, Osaka, and Ottawa, followed by a secondment to the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP). Bienz then returned to the FDFA where he was posted to Manila, Karachi, and Chicago," the release said.