BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 5. Switzerland has financed development projects in Azerbaijan worth approximately CHF 109 million ($119.3 million) to date, ranging from humanitarian assistance in the early years (1994) to economic technical cooperation in more recent years, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs told Trend.
"Of this, approximately CHF 76 million ($83.2 million) were funded by SECO. During the implementation of the Swiss Cooperation Program South Caucasus Region 2022-2025, SECO plans to fund projects with a total value of at least CHF 10 million ($10.9 million); on average CHF 2.5 million ($2.7 million) per year," said the SECO.
Reportedly, the Swiss Cooperation Program South Caucasus Region 2022-2025 sets the framework for Swiss funded projects in Azerbaijan for the years 2022 until 2025.
"When designing new projects, SECO takes into account, among other things, these strategic guidelines, as well as the national strategies of the countries, for example, the National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development in the case of Azerbaijan. Nowadays SECO funded projects continue to focus on strengthening public finance management, contributing to financial sector stability, further improving the business environment and enhancing the access to finance in the agrarian sector as well as providing advisory services to SMEs," said SECO.
The program disbursements provided for within the Swiss Cooperation Program South Caucasus 2022–25 amount to CHF 80.22 million. Overall, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) contribution will amount to CHF 62.62 million, SECO’s to CHF 10 million, and the Peace and Human Rights Division (PHRD) to CHF 5.6 million.
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