President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis has highlighted their "stronger than ever partnership" with Bangladesh as the two countries mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. 

President Cassis underlined key areas of future collaboration, including COVID-19 recovery, peace and prosperity, climate change and sustainable development. 

On this day five decades ago, Switzerland officially recognized Bangladesh as an independent State. 

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To commemorate this very significant milestone, the Swiss President extended his greetings to President Md. Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.   

In his congratulatory messages, the president of Switzerland, emphasized the longstanding collaboration between the two countries in many domains as well as the continuous broadening and deepening of bilateral ties.

Being a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Switzerland aims at further "broadening its engagement" with Bangladesh also in multilateral fora to tackle global peace and security challenges.

Over the last five decades, Switzerland has been a reliable development and economic partner of the people and government of Bangladesh, says its embassy on Sunday. 

Switzerland has invested over CHF 1.2 billion (US$ 1.3 billion) in development assistance in the country, with significant additional contributions channelled through international financial institutions. 

Switzerland’s development cooperation focuses on innovative projects benefitting the most vulnerable. 

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Bilateral trade has increased rapidly and today, traded goods amount to over CHF 1 billion (US$ 1.1 billion) per year, said the embassy.

Most Swiss multinational companies are present in the country and provide critical products, technologies and services in various key socio-economic sectors.