Key speaker on behalf of the Swiss Confederation was Mrs. Kristina Marty Lang, Deputy State Secretary at the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mrs. Marty emphasized that Switzerland will continue to support the Republic of Serbia on its path towards European integration in various fields. „We have been working for almost thirty years in the field of economic development where we are supporting the Government of Serbia in job creation, dual education and private sector development. This cooperation was very fruitful so far and we are very much looking forward to another four years of work with institutions and the Government of the Republic of Serbia”, the Deputy State Secretary pointed out.
Ivan Bošnjak, State Secretary at the Serbian Ministry for Public Administration and Local Self-Government emphasized the significance of the Swiss bilateral support: “I want to express my deepest gratitude to the people of Switzerland and to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, which has been supporting Serbian Government and in particular local self-governments in strengthening of their capacities. These capacities were supported through donor funds, which are significant, not only as a financial means, but also as an opportunity to improve knowledge and competencies of employees in local self-government units”, State Secretary Bošnjak said.
The new four-year Strategy was presented by Mrs. Ursula Läubli, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office. In her media statement, Mrs. Läubli emphasized that the new strategic document is a continuation of the successful Swiss-Serbian cooperation. Switzerland will remain in three fields including governance, economic development and employment, as well as sustainable energy and resilient cities. She also pointed out that there is a Migration Partnership between Swiss State Secretariat for Migration and Serbian Government. “We want to achieve results. We want to contribute to Serbia’s reforms on its path to European integration and to its modernization. What is new in this Strategy is more focus on innovation in different fields, youth employment, local development and strengthening of the civil society”, stated the Director of Swiss Cooperation Office Serbia.
The Strategy has been jointly elaborated between the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC) and Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The foreseen amount for the next four years is 95 million Swiss Francs. The implementation of the strategy is managed by the Swiss Cooperation Office, which is part of the Swiss Embassy in Serbia.
