DUSHANBE, April 30, 2015, Asia-Plus -- Tajik President Emomali Rahmon today received Mr. Thomas Jordan, the chairman of Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

According to the Tajik president’s official website, they discussed a broad range of issue related to state and prospects of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Switzerland.

President Rahmon reportedly expressed satisfaction with the current level of cooperation between the two countries and noted that Tajikistan considered Switzerland one its main partners in Europe.

The sides, however, noted that there was still considerable room for expansion of economic ties between the two countries.  

In 2014, a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Switzerland valued at 480 million U.S. dollars, which was 5.8 times more than in 2013.

Thomas J. Jordan (born 1963) is a Swiss economist and banking supervisor. He is the chairman of the governing board of the Swiss National Bank, chairman of the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group, a member of the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements, and a member of the steering committee of the Financial Stability Board.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is the central bank of Switzerland.  It is responsible for Swiss monetary policy and for issuing Swiss franc banknotes.  About 55% of SNB’s shares are owned by public institutions like cantons and cantonal banks.  The remaining shares are traded on the stock market.  They are mostly owned by private individuals. The Swiss National Bank has two head offices: one is in Bern and the other one in Zurich.

Switzerland has been active in Tajikistan since 1993, when it delivered humanitarian aid during the civil war.  In 1997 Tajikistan became a member of the Swiss led group of countries in the Bretton Woods Institutions, and at this point Switzerland established a Cooperation Office in Dushanbe, marking the shift from emergency relief to long-term development cooperation.

The main Swiss actors present in Tajikistan are the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the FDFA’s Human Security Division.

Switzerland’s strategy for 2012 - 2015 in Tajikistan focuses on four priority areas: health; safe drinking water; rule of law; and private sector development.