Swiss Cooperation in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz Republic has received development assistance from Switzerland for more than 10 years. First reconnaissance missions of Swiss international development organizations started in 1993. An official cooperation agreement between the government of the Kyrgyz Republic and Swiss Confederation was signed on November 14, 1994. In 1995 Swiss Liaison Office was opened in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The same year Kyrgyz Republic was declared a priority country for the Swiss assistance. In 1997 the juridical status of the Liaison Office was further defined. It became officially known as a Swiss Cooperation Office (SCO), representing two federal agencies - Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

At the moment SDC and SECO run 17 projects in the Kyrgyz Republic; about 10 more projects are implemented regionally. The annual budget of Swiss Cooperation in Kyrgyzstan is about USD 15 000 000. Most of the projects are implemented by multilateral partners and international organizations as well as Swiss NGOs and companies.