/Switzerland

Two key offices are responsible for Switzerland’s official development assistance. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) serves as the country’s international cooperation agency, while the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is the center for economic and labor policy for poverty reduction in the form of economic development cooperation. The SDC and SECO handle about 80% of Switzerland’s development cooperation. The rest are managed by the State Secretariat for Migration; Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports; Federal Office for the Environment; and other federal agencies and municipalities.

SDC’s initiatives cover a broad range of themes such as climate change and the environment; water; agriculture and food security; health; migration; basic education and vocational skills development; disaster risk reduction, emergency relief, reconstruction, and protection; private sector development and financial services; gender equality; good governance; and addressing fragilities, and promoting human rights and peaceful, just, and inclusive societies. In Asia, the SDC provides assistance to Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal, the Greater Mekong Subregion (Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Hindu Kush (Pakistan). On the other hand, SECO’s support focuses on economic and financial policy, urban infrastructure and utilities, private sector and entrepreneurship, and sustainable trade, mostly in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Viet Nam.

Sovereign Cofinancing. Switzerland has three active trust funds with ADB to date. It has been supporting since 2018 the Cities Development Initiative for Asia Trust Fund, which assists cities in the region to address their priority infrastructure needs. Sweden has been contributing to the Water Financing Partnership Facility (Multi-Donor Trust Fund) since October 2011. This facility supports demonstration projects under the Water Financing Program in developing members. It has also been supporting the Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) since 2015. Designed to establish and strengthen knowledge and learning from selected cities, the facility sets up peer learning networks to share experiences and lessons globally.

Nonsovereign Cofinancing. The Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program (TSCFP) supported over 260 transactions valued at $950.6 million with banks domiciled in Switzerland from inception to December 2022. During the same period, the TSCFP supported over 1,210 Swiss exports and/or imports valued at $4.3 billion. In 2022 alone, the TSCFP supported 42 transactions valued at $95.1 million with banks domiciled in Switzerland and supported 184 Swiss exports and/or imports valued at $480.3 million. Exports and/or imports were mainly to/from Bangladesh, Viet Nam, and Pakistan. Underlying goods involved mostly food and agriculture-related goods, raw and non-energy commodities, as well as textiles and apparel.

Switzerland has also been supportive of ADB’s TSCFP through its contribution to the UCCRTF that provided $1.5 million to finance TSCFP’s safeguards-related initiatives.

Special funds. Switzerland contributes to ADB special funds where contributions from financing partners are administered with the same level of care as ADB’s own resources. Since becoming a member in 1967, Switzerland has committed a total of $449.9 million to special funds, of which $424.7 million went to the Asian Development Fund (ADF). The ADF provides grants to ADB’s low-income developing member countries to promote poverty reduction and improvements in the quality of life.