Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs has been a contributor to the FIAS Trust Fund since 1989 and has since been one of the strongest supporters of the FIAS Program.  Besides the continuous funding support to the general FIAS Trust Fund facility, SECO has also been a major supporter for two major regional facilities in recent years, with additional funding provided for targeted assistance to countries in Africa and the Balkans (see Regional Donor Facilities).
 
 
Switzerland participates in the international community's efforts to help developing countries. Each year Switzerland spends approximately 1.5 billion CHF (1 billion USD) on development aid, a figure which corresponds to about 0.34 per cent of Switzerland's gross national product (GNP).

The economic development cooperation program of SECO has four main objectives:

• To help developing countries to reach the stage of development most favorable to growth and investment: The Bretton Woods institutions (IMF and World Bank) are the main partners of the developing countries, both in terms of deciding which policy changes are necessary to restore sustainable growth, and in meeting the relevant financing requirements. Executive Directors represent Switzerland on the Board of Directors of each of these institutions, and have a say in the decisions taken. At the bilateral level, balance of payment aid and debt reduction operations in the context of internationally coordinated adjustment programs are the instruments through which Switzerland attempts to help developing countries to establish a favorable macroeconomic environment.
  
• To mobilize private sector resources as a means of increasing the flow of finance to the developing countries, as well as technology transfer: Direct private investment is today the most important source of long-term financing and know-how transfer to developing countries, even though such investment remains focused on a handful of medium-income countries. It is SECO's intention, with the help of various incentive measures and through risk-sharing, to attract a growing portion of these resources to the poorest countries that have made praiseworthy efforts to adjust.
  
• To improve the productive and social infrastructure: SECO's aim is to improve, with concrete projects and measures, the productive and social infrastructure of the developing and transition countries. The most important instruments of SECO are the mixed financing (developing countries), the financial aide and the credit guarantees (transition countries). The purchase of Swiss goods and services, that are necessary for the realization of projects, are financed with the help of these instruments.
  
• To achieve greater integration of developing countries in international trade: Only very few of the poor countries have been able to take advantage of the extraordinary growth of international trade in the course of the past two decades. They must be given every assistance to enable them to diversify their exports, increase the efficiency of their commercial operations, defend their interests in the forums that govern international trade, and to penetrate new markets.  
  
  For more information about the organization, the objectives, and the instruments of SECO, please refer to our web-page: www.seco-admin.ch