The President of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, His Excellency Andre Bugnon, paid the first official Swiss visit to Mongolia at the Parliamentary level since diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1964.

Mr Bugnon and his wife Christiane were in the country from October 17-20 on an invitation from the Speaker of Parliament, D. Demberel.

Mr Demberel received Mr Bugnon in the Mongolian Government building and expressed his thanks for the generous support the people of Switzerland had given to Mongolians during times of natural disasters. This included such humanitarian aid as the provision of animal fodder and gers, and cash grants to dzud-affected herders. He also thanked Mr Bugnon for deepening bilateral relations between the two countries and highlighted the CHF 9 million in funding from Switzerland for Mongolia's ongoing development.

In return, Mr Bugnon expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome and gave assurances that Switzerland would continue to support Mongolia on its development path by strengthening its programs and extending relations between the two countries. After the meeting, Mr Bugnon signed the Government House guestbook and the two then held a press conference.

Mr Bugnon then met with Mongolian President N. Enkhbayar and discussed future bilateral prospects between the two countries. President Enkhbayar expressed his gratitude for Switzerland's support to Mongolia in helping to combat desertification and said he hoped the support would continue in the future.

Mr Bugnon said the Swiss Government was partnering with the Mongolian Government in fostering good governance and in the delivering of public services in a fair and transparent manner.

As a part of his itinerary, Mr Bugnon then attended the Scholarship Award ceremony and handed out awards to 80 top students from low-income families. In his address to the students, Mr. Bugnon said: "This program, in partnership with the Zorig Foundation, has significantly contributed to furthering cooperation between Switzerland and Mongolia to enable the country to move towards a knowledge-based society."

The next day, Mr Bugnon visited Bornuur soum in Tuv aimag to see the activities of the SDC's Sustainable Artisanal Mining project. On the project site, he visited the pilot workshop to extract gold from rock using gravitation - an alternative method to the use of mercury and cyanide initiated by the soum's Association of Small Artisanal Miners. It is the first model artisanal and small-scale mining plant in the world that uses mercury and cyanide-free technology. Both the SDC and the Government of Mongolia have supported this initiative, recognising the significance of this environmentally friendly new technology that poses no threat to humans or animals.

During his visit to the pilot workshop, a multilateral agreement on collobaration in mercury and cyanide-free ASM development in the Bornuur area between the Government of Mongolia, the SDC, Centerra Gold Co. Ltd, the Government of Bornuur soum and the Artisanal Miners' Association was concluded.

Mr Bugnon's next stop was a meeting with Mongolian State Champion Farmer L. Boldbaatar, who has been working with SDC's "Mongolian Potato" program since 2004 as a potato-seed multiplier growing up to six varieties of potatoes.

The "Mongolian Potato" program has significanly contributed to food security and higher incomes for herders by enhancing the productivity of the Mongolian potato sector. Mr Bugnon, an agronomist by profession, was keen to understand the Mongolian agricultural sector after seeing the outdated equipment and techniques used by farmers. He underlined the importance of the Swiss partnership with Mongolia in its agricultural and livestock sectors.

At the end of his visit to the countryside, he was welcomed by a herder family and had the opportunity to experience the Mongolian nomadic lifestyle.