DUSHANBE , July 18, Asia-Plus - Ambassador Walter Fust, Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), will visit Tajikistan from July 21-24, according to information from the SDC Dushanbe Office.   

The source says that during his stay in Tajikistan Ambassador Fust is scheduled to visit a number of SDC funded projects and to meet with key officials of the Tajik Government and a wide range of representatives from different spheres of Tajik society. 

Switzerland has been cooperating with Tajikistan since the Nineties through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). Both organizations are represented by the Swiss Cooperation Office in Dushanbe . Swiss engagement in Tajikistan comprises technical, financial and humanitarian assistance covering a wide array of topics such as health sector reform, local/ rural development, access to justice, gender equality, promotion of cultural diversity, energy supply, water management, disaster risk management and others.

Since 2001, the Swiss Cooperation Office also houses a Consular Office providing visas to local citizens travelling to Switzerland .

Since 1997, Switzerland has been exclusively providing grants to Tajikistan , which means that no reimbursement of funds has to be made by the Tajik state.  Tajikistan is a member of the Swiss-led constituency in the Bretton Woods Institutions (World Bank and IMF).

ABOUT: Mr. Walter Fust, born in 1945, has been the Director General of SDC since 1993.  The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation is a part of the Swiss Federal Department (Ministry) of Foreign Affairs responsible for the implementation of Swiss cooperation activities for development in many countries of the World.