H.E. Urs Schmid

Mr. Urs Schmid is the Ambassador of Switzerland to the Republic of Serbia and to Montenegro with residence in Belgrade. He is a career diplomat and before taking up his current position, he has been the Ambassador of Switzerland to the Republic of Kazakhstan and to the Republic of Tajikistan with residence in Nur-Sultan from August 2016 to August 2020. Previously he served as the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament and Deputy Head of Mission of the Permanent Representation of Switzerland to the Office of the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva from September 2012 to July 2016.

In his capacity as the Ambassador of Switzerland to Serbia, Ambassador Schmid oversees also the implementation of the longstanding bilateral cooperation program with Serbia. In this framework Switzerland contributes to the successful efforts of the Government of Serbia to advance digitalization of internal processes and service delivery. Examples include technical assistance to 40 local Governments in digitalizing property tax management and improving the transparency and accessibility of data for citizens (open data), or the digitalization of reporting processes from municipal enterprises to the Ministry of Economy. Swiss cooperation has also partnered with key players in the tech entrepreneurship ecosystem, such as the Science and Technology Park Belgrade, or the Digital Serbia Initiative to further support the development of the thriving IT startup sector in Serbia.