“Mongolia and Switzerland can boost their cooperation in many spheres”

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Expressing a satisfaction with a successful development of the relations and between Mongolia and Switzerland, the President of Mongolia Ts.Elbegdorj and his Switzerland counterpart Mr Johann Schneider-Ammann said the countries could boost this collaboration in many spheres. Their meeting took place last weekend on the fields of the 46th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. The two dignitaries also emphasized huge achievements of Mongolia in strengthening the democracy. While touching upon a statement of the Mongolian leader made at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly about the permanent neutrality status, Mr Schneider-Ammann highlighted his country’s experiences and lessons on this status. “Switzerland is a classic example of the permanent neutrality, it was declared in 1815,” he added. Mongolia and Switzerland established the diplomatic relations in 1964, the 50th anniversary of this relationship was celebrated in 2014. As of present, some 10 Swiss people in Mongolia run constant active works in health, culture, humanity and environment spheres. According to its latest Swiss Cooperation Strategy, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation /SDC/ has prioritized Mongolia’s agricultural development, ensuring food security and better livelihoods for the most vulnerable of the population; greater involvement in vocational education and skills training for unskilled youth and adults in order to improve their employability; and Strengthening good governance and civil society development, in particular through support for reforms related to decentralization, direct democracy and civic participation. Between 2013 and 2016, Switzerland rendered developmental aid of 80.1 million Swiss francs to Mongolia.