Bridges China Dialogue

 President of Swiss Chinese Chamber of Commerce Geneva Chapter

Josef M. Mueller is of Swiss nationality and was born on October 14, 1947 in Switzerland. He completed his schooling and commercial and economic studies in Switzerland and holds an MBA degree from I.M.D. (formerly IMEDE) in Lausanne, Switzerland. He spent his entire professional career on important international assignments with the Nestlé Group: out of 35 years, he spent 32 years abroad, out of which 28 years in Asia, including 19 years in the Greater China Region.

He joined the Nestlé Group in Switzerland in 1972 as international operational auditor with assignments in Europe, North America and South Africa. After 4 years of solid introduction to Nestlé’s operations in various countries, his subsequent career brought him to the Far East (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines) where he continuously progressed into senior positions in Sales and Marketing Management. In between these transfers, he spent some 3 years at Nestlé Headquarters in Switzerland with business development responsibilities for Far Eastern countries.

During 1992-1995, he was Head of Nestlé in Pakistan and during 1995-1998 Head of Nestlé in Korea. In mid 1998, he moved to Beijing and took over the responsibilities for Nestlé in China as Chairman and CEO of Nestlé (China) Ltd. and, in mid-2000, his responsibilities were further expanded as Head of Nestlé in the Greater China Region where in 2007 Nestlé employed over 13,000 permanent staff and operated 21 factories and one R&D Centre (2nd to open in 2008). He also was nominated as Consultant to the Yunnan and Shaanxi Provincial Governments and was Vice President of the Beijing Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment.

Upon his retirement from Nestlé, he maintains an active interest in global business activities, in particular in Asia/Greater China Region as well as Europe. He has been invited to serve as a Senior Advisor by various organizations and as an ‘Executive-in-Residence’ at IMD, International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne/Switzerland. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bühler Group in Switzerland and of three Nestlé’s joint ventures in China, namely Shanghai Totole Food Ltd. and Shanghai Totole First Food Ltd. in Shanghai and Haoji Food Ltd. in Sichuan Province.

He speaks German, English and French and has a basic knowledge in some other languages.