Ferdinand Bardoly-Küzmös has long been a familiar face in the Czech community in Zurich as well as among Czech entrepreneurs. We have talked to the Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Zurich about his relationship with our country, the ongoing cooperation with Český klub Zürich, his economic diplomacy projects and plans to support Czech entrepreneurs in the region.
You were appointed honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Zurich in 2021. What was the motivation for you to take up this role?
With family roots in the Central European region, I am very connected to this part of Europe. As a regular visitor to your country, I appreciate not only its natural and cultural heritage, but also the friendliness of its citizens. In my professional career in the financial sector, I have also been in constant contact with the Czech Republic for a long time.
In 2009, you founded a wealth management company BK & Associates. Are there any synergies between your main field of activity and diplomacy? Do your clients also include Czech business entities?
After being responsible for the CEE & SEE regions of a Swiss private bank, I established BK & Associates Ltd. in 2009, a privately owned, independent wealth management company headquartered in Zurich. Today the company is focusing rather on private equity, club deals and project management. We also help many companies – including those with Czech ties – to be able to get access to the credit market.
There are clear positive synergies between diplomacy and the financial world, for example a larger and more international network. Therefore, thanks our diplomatic activities, our Swiss and international clients can benefit from a much more sophisticated network and capability to address and solve complex, long-term challenges.
As a financier and successful entrepreneur in wealth management, you place great emphasis on business ethics and support a wide range of non-profit initiatives. Can you name some of them?
Along the year, I accompany persons of our community with a disability at various occasions, such as dining out. I also served as regional head for scouts in Zurich, I regularly support international youth summer camps for young people with disabilities or a mother and child institution called Dreams in Tanzania. Another recent project was in the Philippines, where they asked us for emergency relief for a hospital. The hospital had to be evacuated, and we organised the supply of medicine, material and food by helicopters, boats and special vehicles. Last but not least, I would like to mention our continuous financial support for the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem.
The expat association Český klub Zürich has appreciated your ingenuity and generosity in organizing events to support the Czech Republic. Which of these events would you highlight?
The Czech community in Zurich and in the German-speaking part of Switzerland is not only numerous with around 12,000 people, but also very active. They operate schools, churches or associations, organize concerts, sporting events and other activities. As honorary consul, I therefore see my tasks not only as an extended arm of the Czech state on various diplomatic, cultural or economic occasions or as the person responsible for the citizens residing in my district, but also as a contact person and sponsor of their various activities.
In this context, I would like to highlight our yearly support for the Ahoj Festival, which has been organized for the 6th time this year by the Czech Club Zurich and newly in cooperation with the Slovak Cultural Association. Other traditional events of the Czech community in Zurich include the celebrations of the Czech National Day with the presence of the Czech Ambassador to Switzerland, accompanied by the performance of well-known Czech artists. I must also mention that 2024 is a Kafka year. Thus, we decided to honour him by inviting the internationally recognized photo artist Christian Scholz, who made the guests discover completely different and unknown faces of Kafka. Whenever possible, we engage a Czech catering company to better enjoy the atmosphere.
Some of these events, such as exhibitions of Czech artists, sound generous. Who covers the costs in these cases?
As Honorary Consul I’m not paid or supported financially by the Czech Republic; thus, all expenses related to the operation of the Honorary Consulate and its activities are entirely covered by me.
From your position, do you also help develop business relations between Swiss and Czech companies or organizations?
Absolutely, these are some of the main activities I have chosen to focus on. We are regularly solicited by the trade counsellors & organisations and from many established and start-up companies directly across all sectors to help them. This is also why we initiated in 2023 the EMUS Forum to connect the business community with the representatives of embassies of the V4 countries and Switzerland.
We are living in a period which is characterized by various geopolitical and economic confrontations; therefore, we are hoping that our forum offers an opportunity for bigger cooperation between Switzerland and the V4 countries but also for cooperation among the V4 countries. In particular, the forum presents easy networking opportunities as well as options for exchange and dialogue between companies that already have presence in Switzerland and those who might be considering or just initiated to enter the Swiss market. We were pleased to welcome ambassadors and trade counsellors of embassies, representatives of various Swiss economic organizations, chambers of commerce, reputable law firms, financial advisors, tax and M&A experts. The feedbacks surprised us so positively that we are quasi in “obligation” to organise another EMUS forum, probably in 2025. Your readers are very welcome to join the event.
What other activities await you in the near future in your role as honorary consul?
Besides the day-to-day agenda, we are soon expecting an important state visit from Czechia, then the annual dinner with the Canton and City government of Zurich and an official visit of the government of Canton Zug in November. By approaching the year end, we usually have a large number of events organised by the embassies in Bern as well. I’m looking forward to all of them.
Mr. Bardoly-Küzmös was interviewed by Daniel Libertin and Věra Vortelová
Photo credits: Ferdinand Bardoly-Küzmös
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