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Organisation

The Economic Cooperation and Development division is part of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). It contributes to achieving the strategic objectives of Switzerland’s foreign economic policy.

Ambassador Dominique Paravicini heads the Economic Cooperation and Development division of SECO. In spring 2020, the headquarters in Bern employed 105 people, representing 91 FTEs. In addition, there are staff in Swiss cooperation offices and Swiss Embassies, who oversee SECO programmes on the ground. SECO also assigns delegates to international organisations and to Switzerland’s offices at international financial institutions.

Staff of the division at an off-site event on the Gurten in 2022. — Staff of the division and the Swiss cooperation offices at a joint off-site event on the Gurten in 2022.

The division engages with many different partner organisations at a bilateral and multilateral level, thereby making use of the expertise on economic and trade policy within SECO and the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER). It uses this knowledge in specific areas of development cooperation, for instance in the fields of economic, trade and labour market policy.