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.

The purpose of the visit to Kyrgyzstan was to identify business opportunities for Swiss firms, to foster relations with Kyrgyzstan as a member of the same voting groups in the World Bank and the IMF, and to see whether the support provided under Switzerland’s development cooperation program is relevant and effective.

Over the years, Switzerland has provided around CHF 370 million in grants to support the transition of the Kyrgyz Republic to a functioning democratic system and a sustainable market economy. The “Swiss Cooperation Strategy for Central Asia 2017-2021” foresees a total budget of about CHF 100 million for Kyrgyzstan for five years. Support to the Kyrgyz government in improving the business climate and to the Kyrgyz private sector to develop and create jobs is an important endeavour of the Swiss cooperation program in Kyrgyzstan.

During his visit, Minister Johann N. Schneider-Ammann met with the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic - Mr. Muhammedkalyi Abylgaziev, the Minister of Finance – Mr. Adylbek Kasymaliev, and with the Deputy Minister of Economy – Mr. Eldar Abakirov.

During its stay in Bishkek, the Swiss delegation met with representatives of the Kyrgyz private sector, as well as the Swiss business community in Kyrgyzstan. The Swiss Minister visited a local company that benefited from the support of the Swiss Cooperation under the Small Business Initiative Program. This program helps small and medium-sized enterprises to get access to financial and advisory services, which will improve their performance and enable them to grow further and create jobs.

Swiss and Kyrgyz representatives had constructive discussions on topics of mutual interest, in particular on the opportunities and challenges for the Kyrgyz economy in the context of regional initiatives like the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative. Swiss foreign direct investments – mainly in tourism, dairy and services – so far remain modest, but members of the delegation noted that they could increase provided international quality and sanitary standards and other issues could be addressed. In this regard, Minister Schneider-Ammann stressed that Switzerland stands ready to provide support to Kyrgyzstan in strengthening its national quality system and in enhancing trade facilitation.

Before coming to Kyrgyzstan, the Swiss delegation visited Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.