DUSHANBE, April 18, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, Mr. Stephan Nellen, will arrive in Dushanbe on April 20 for a short visit to present his credentials to President Emomali Rahmon, press release issued by the Swiss Embassy of Switzerland to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan said.

It is expected that in frames of this visit Mr. Nellen will have a meeting with key Government officials in order to establish and strengthen diplomatic and friendly ties.

The program of the Ambassador also includes visits to different projects implemented in Tajikistan with the financial support of Switzerland.

The Embassy of Switzerland to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan officially opened on March 10, 2009 with the consular district covering these two countries.  Until this year Tajikistan belonged to the consular district of the Embassy of Switzerland to the Republics of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Mr. Stephan Nellen (1948), MA in economics and business administration, has a lasting diplomatic experience since 1978 with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland working in the diplomatic representations in the USA and a number of countries of Asia, Eastern and Western Europe.

Since 2008 Mr. Nellen is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to the Republic of Kazakhstan and to the Republic of Tajikistan.