Switzerland's State Secretary of Economic Affairs Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch arrived in Egypt Tuesday in a two-day visit to launch the 2017-2020 Swiss Cooperation Strategy in Egypt with the Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr, according to a press release by the Swiss Embassy in Cairo. "Switzerland's decision to extend its international cooperation projects in Egypt for four more years, from 2017 to 2020, shows its commitment and continuous support to various dimensions of Egypt's reform agenda as set out in the country's 2030 vision," said Paul Garnier, ambassador of Switzerland to Egypt. Switzerland announced that its allocated budget for the 2017-2020 cooperation strategy for Egypt is CHF 86m. The visit comes as a part of the Egyptian-Swiss partnership. For years, Switzerland has been funding development projects in Egypt in the fields of democratic processes and human rights, including sustainable economic growth, employment, migration, and protection. In her visit, Ineichen-Fleisch is planned to visit two development projects of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which she heads. The sites are the National Blood Transfusion Centre and Badr University as part of CIRA (Cairo Investment and Real Estate Development). Egypt is Switzerland's third-largest trading partner in Africa, the press release revealed, with the total volume of trade between the two countries standing at CHF 1.3bn in 2016. Swiss private sector investments in Egypt stood at CHF 1.8bn in 2015.
