Philippe Isler

Executive Director

Philippe Isler is an international trade expert and partnership leader with 30 years’ experience in designing and implementing solutions that enable and scale global trade. He specialises in trade facilitation, supply-chain efficiency, digital transformation and the development of public-private partnerships. Since 2016, Philippe has served as Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation at the World Economic Forum. He leads a global platform that brings together governments, donors, international organisations and private sector companies to design and deliver practical reforms that reduce the time, cost and complexity of cross-border trade in developing and emerging economies. Philippe combines strategic leadership with strong operational and commercial experience. He has built initiatives from the ground up, developed business cases, structured complex partnerships and led diverse teams in challenging, multi-stakeholder environments. His work has covered customs modernisation, trade community systems, single-window platforms, e-government, supply-chain traceability and technology-enabled trade solutions. Before joining the World Economic Forum, Philippe spent 19 years with SGS, where he held senior roles in business development, product management and operations. He holds a BEng in Engineering from the University of Bristol.