Foreign affairs minister of Moldova, top management of Switzerland discuss Moldovan-Swiss relations

Chisinau, 23 January /MOLDPRES/ - Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Tudor Ulianovschi has exchanged opinions on the Moldovan-Swiss relations with President of Switzerland Ueli Maurer, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Swiss official expressed willingness to provide every support for boosting the bilateral political dialogue and fostering the commercial and economic cooperation, the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry’s press service has reported.    

Another subject of the discussions was focused on reaffirming Moldova’s intention to sign a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) member states. In the context, Ueli Maurer reiterated the firm support by Switzerland for the fulfillment of this desideratum. The Moldovan diplomacy head made an invitation to President Ueli Maurer to pay an official visit to Moldova during this year.   

In Davos, Tudor Ulianovschi had a meeting also with Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation Ignacio Cassis. The officials discussed the turning to good account of the Swiss assistance within the new cooperation strategy with Moldova for 2018-2021, especially in the new sectors of assistance, such as development of the vocational education, extension of small- and medium-sized enterprises, creation of jobs, etc. In the context, Minister Tudor Ulianovschi noted that, through the attraction of new investments, Moldova’s efforts would be backed, in order to achieve the country’s Sustainable Development Goals, thus contributing to the state’s modernization and improvement of the Moldovan citizens’ living standards.   

The Moldovan diplomacy head welcomed the successful implementation of the projects within the Development Strategy of Switzerland. At the same time, he asked for including Moldova as country beneficiary of economic and investment programmes of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs manages over 500 programmes meant for developing countries from the Eastern and Southern Europe. The programme’s goal is to facilitate the integration into the global economy by strengthening economic policies, extending the infrastructure, developing the entrepreneurship, promoting trade and consolidating competitiveness in the international commercial circuit through access to new sales markets.   

Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Tudor Ulianovschi represents Moldova at the World Economic Forum in Davos, held on 23-25 January.