30 municipalities of Issyk-Kul and Jalal-Abad provinces exchanged best practices on improving services at the local level in Kyrgyzstan

Local news, 03.12.2018

On November 30, 2018, a Conference on best practices to improve public service delivery at the local level was held in Bishkek. The event was attended by representatives of 30 municipalities of Issyk-Kul and Jalal-Abad provinces and government agencies.

Conference on best practices for municipalities © Swiss Embassy Bishkek, 2018

The conference was supported by the Swiss-funded Public Service Improvement project. It provided a platform to present and exchange on concrete examples of improved services at the local level in the municipalities of Issyk-Kul and Jalal-Abad provinces. For example, representatives of Kumbel municipality shared their experience in organizing the drinking water supply service, and representatives of Toktogul city spoke about improving the collection and removal of solid waste in their city. In addition, other municipalities shared their experience on improving services on lightning of public areas, preschool education, including education for children with special educational needs, and maintenance of internal roads.

The head of the Development Department of Local Self-Governments at the State Agency on Local Self-Government and Interethnic Relations Azamat Shameyev noted the importance of such events in development of regions and improvement of services at the local level. He informed that the Development Program of Local Self-Governments has been recently adopted, which includes a number of activities to improve services at the local level. Also Azamat Shameyev informed that jointly with the Ministry of Economy they work on the document that will reflect the public opinion about the quality of provided services.

The Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Switzerland in the Kyrgyz Republic, Danielle Meuwly Monteleone, emphasized that the next important step will be to ensure that improved services are sustainable and best practices are institutionalized at the national level. It will also be crucial to enhance local finances and to address deficiencies in intergovernmental relations.

150’000 people benefit from the 38 action plans on improving services supported by the project over the past four years. This included 9 initiatives to ensure sustainable access to clean drinking water, 11 services to improve the quality and accessibility of pre-school and school education (including education for children with special educational needs), 9 services in the field of cultural and leisure activities (park areas, cultural and sports services) and 8 plans for maintenance and cleaning of public areas.

The overall cost of the implementation of these action plans was more than 97 million soms. The own contribution of the municipalities amounted to more than 33 million soms or almost 26%, which shows the importance and relevance of the problems in municipalities.

The Public Service Improvement Project is funded by the Swiss Government through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by Helvetas Kyrgyzstan and the Development Policy Institute.

 

Local news, 09.07.2018

Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann will travel to the South Caucasus and Central Asia from 8 to 16 July, heading a sizeable 35-strong delegation including representatives from parliament, cantonal governments and the private sector. The economic mission will take in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The aim is to identify business opportunities for Swiss firms under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, to foster relations with member countries of Switzerland’s constituency in the international financial institutions (World Bank, IMF, EBRD) and to highlight Switzerland’s development cooperation programmes (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Azerbaijan). A number of declarations of intent and memorandums are expected to be signed during the mission (Kazakhstan).

The head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) will meet most probably with members of government including the president of Azerbaijan and the prime ministers of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as ministers of economic affairs, investment, finance and trade, and local authority representatives. Meetings are also scheduled to take place with associations and representatives from the private sector and with the local Swiss business community including round tables and economic forums in various capital cities. Two declarations of intent with Kazakhstan on the future conclusion of two agreements, one on the recognition of precious metal hallmarking, and a second on the field of services (domestic regulation in trade in services) are expected to be signed.

The Swiss delegation will visit several economic zones offering facilities to foreign companies with the aim of attracting investment. The projects pursued in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative are aimed at developing transport and energy infrastructure, offering interesting opportunities to Swiss industry, such as in the field of rail transport. In Kazakhstan, the delegation will stop in Aktau, a town on the shores of the Caspian Sea destined to become a key point on the east-west transport routes of the Belt and Road Initiative. There the delegation will visit the port facilities and special economic zone. In Astana, the governor of the new international financial centre (AIFC) will give a presentation on the future role that Kazakhstan intends to play in the region’s financial sector.

Mr Schneider-Ammann’s presence in the region will be used as an opportunity to inaugurate new Swiss investment projects in the chemical industry in Azerbaijan and in the textile industry in Uzbekistan.

The mission will also allow the head of the EAER to see a selection of Swiss development cooperation projects at first hand, particularly in Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The projects cover different fields (support for the financial sector, trade promotion, infrastructure financing, particularly water supply in collaboration with the World Bank, and vocational education). In Bishkek, there will be an opportunity to meet with Swiss cooperation partners.

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In the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at developing the old Silk Road along land-based and maritime corridors, Azerbaijan and Central Asia are gaining in importance and enjoying increased interest among economic actors. The region, which is rich in natural resources, is pursuing important economic development projects, particularly in terms of infrastructure, necessitating cooperation with foreign partners. Ambitious reform programmes have been put in place with a view to diversifying and liberalising the economy. At the end of 2017, Uzbekistan introduced a key measure by liberalising its foreign exchange policy.

Since the countries of Central Asia gained independence at the beginning of the 1990s, Switzerland has maintained close ties due to their membership of the same constituency in the Bretton Woods international financial institutions, an important aspect of these relations. One of the aims of Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann’s visit is to facilitate private sector access to these markets, which remains difficult despite various reforms, and to encourage synergies between Switzerland’s various areas of intervention in Central Asia.

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Economic exchanges with the countries visited are not yet well developed, even though certain figures, particularly on imports, are high due to trade in precious metals (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic) and petroleum products (Kazakhstan). Kazakhstan is Switzerland’s main market in the region followed by Uzbekistan. Despite the presence of a number of businesses, Swiss investment, on which the SNB does not publish data, is still relatively modest, except for Kazakhstan. Investment on the part of these countries in Switzerland is very modest, with the exception of Azerbaijan which occupies first place following the acquisition of the Swiss subsidiary of ExxonMobil by the national oil company Socar in 2012.

Address for enquiries

Irène Harnischberg,
Spokeperson EAER
058 462 20 34,
irene.harnischberg@gs-wbf.admin.ch

Publisher

Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
http://www.wbf.admin.ch