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.

The “Francophonie Week” is the festival of the French language and cultures of the French-speaking countries, which is celebrated in the middle of March across the world. The organizers have prepared a program for the broad public to show the linguistic and cultural diversity of the French-speaking countries.

French is the fifth language spoken in the world and the third language for business. French is an official language in 29 countries and there are more than 274 million Francophones or French speakers worldwide.

The Francophonie week will be launched in Bishkek on March 12 with the French movie “Le sens de la fête” to be screened at 18:00 at the “Ala-Too” cinema.

The Belgian movie “Je suis mort mais j’ai des amis” (I’m dead but I have friends) will be shown on March 14 at 17:00 and the Canadian film “Maïna” at 19:00 at the Academy of Tourism (99 Chui avenue).

The Swiss animation film “Ma vie de Courgette” (My life as a Zucchini) will be screened on March 17 at 18:00 at the "Rossiya" cinema. All films are in French with Russian subtitles.

The Francophonie program will have 19 events during 6 days consisting of sport, cultural and artistic activities, such as competition of French songs, the French game "Petanque", and a quiz night, and many other events.

There will also be conferences on education in the French speaking countries (March 14 at 2pm in the Alliance française 242 Ogonbaeva street) as well as on the “Erasmus plus” programme in Europe (March 16 at 2 pm, same address).

All interested people are welcome to join.

The detailed program is presented online on the Facebook pages of the “Alliance française de Bichkek”, the “Ambassade de France au Kirghizstan”, “Swiss Embassy Kyrgyzstan” as well as on the website of the French Embassy.