Moldovan foreign minister says Switzerland's assistance meant both for citizens, Moldova's sustainable development

Chisinau, 18 April /MOLDPRES/ - The Swiss Confederation’s approach as to the assistance provided to Moldova is pragmatic, meant both for people’s needs and for carrying out the strategies of sustainable development of Moldova. Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Tudor Ulianovschi made statements to this effect at a today’s meeting with Deputy State Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation Krystyna Marty Lang, on a visit to Chisinau on the occasion of the launch of the Strategy of Cooperation with Moldova for 2018-2021.

According to the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry’s public diplomacy, strategic communication and media interaction service, in the context, Minister Tudor Ulianovschi stressed that Switzerland is one of the main partners of Moldova in terms of the assistance volume. The diplomat noted that a significant number of projects in strategic fields for Moldova’s development had been implemented through the Swiss Cooperation Office in Chisinau.   

The Moldovan diplomacy head stressed that the Chisinau authorities appreciated Switzerland’s efforts to help us overcome problems we face, especially in important sectors, such as health, drinking water supply, migration and development; additionally, there are economic development and employment, local governance and vocational education. “These are well-set fields, selected jointly with experts from Moldova; in this way, a maximum usefulness of the assistance provided is ensured. The support on behalf of the Swiss Confederation is directed to the most needed sectors both for the vulnerable categories of our society and for the creation of necessary conditions for a sustainable development of the entire society in the long run,” Minister Ulianovschi noted.     

For her part, Krystyna Marty Lang praised the good cooperation with Moldova. She expressed her country’s willingness to boost the bilateral collaboration, including in starting projects which would comprise various sectors of the social, economic, educational, cultural life, etc.   

According to the two officials, a good example of the Moldovan-Swiss cooperation is also the launch of a new Strategy of Cooperation with Moldova for 2018-2021, for the implementation of which the government of Switzerland has earmarked about 800 million lei. Attending the launch, Minister Tudor Ulianovschi pointed out that the extension of the bilateral ties, including through this new Strategy, was a good occasion to highlight, once again, the friendly character of the Moldovan-Swiss cooperation, mutual wish to develop and deepen the relations year after year.   

The carrying out of the Strategy is coordinated at the country level by the Swiss Cooperation Office, which the local bureau of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and representation of the Embassy of Switzerland in Moldova. In the next four years, SDC, in close cooperation with the Moldovan government, private sector and civil society from Moldova, is set to contribute to enhancing the well-being of the residents and cohesion of the Moldovan society, giving priority to the marginalized social groups.   

While taking into account Moldova’s development priorities, the Swiss technical and financial assistance will be provided in the following sectors: (1) local governance, (2) health, (3) economic development and employment. Programmes and projects on development, due to include all Moldova’s regions, will be implemented with Swiss support.  

Switzerland is the fourth biggest donor of Moldova. Starting from 2010, Moldova has benefited from assistance worth about 85 million Swiss francs.