During his first day in Poland, Mr Sager visited the Swiss cooperation office in Warsaw, where he gained insights into the multi-faceted cooperation programme with Poland and the role and workings of the cooperation office itself. The visit left him satisfied that quite apart from the evident commitment of his SDC colleagues, the necessary structures and processes exist both on the Polish and Swiss sides to wind up the project by mid-June 2017.
Mr Sager began the second day of his visit at a summing-up conference on results achieved to date. Projects on health, regional development, (border) security and research were presented. At a press conference, Mr Sager also spoke about why it is in Switzerland's best interests to make an enlargement contribution to Poland. Mr Sager also availed himself of the opportunity to meet with officials from the Polish ministry that organised the conference and the Polish partner responsible for implementing the Swiss contribution, the National Coordination Unit (NCU). During these meetings, Mr Sager underscored the fact that Switzerland genuinely wants to promote economic development and the reduction of disparities in Poland, which is why proven results and quality is important.
After the conference, Mr Sager visited four projects in south-east Poland:
