November 21^st

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and members of his cabinet on November 20^th arrived in Nis, where they were received by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and cabinet members ahead a joint session of governments on November 21^st. Orban and the Hungarian ministers were welcomed at the Constantine the Great Airport with the highest honors with the playing of anthems and the presence of an honor guard. Multiple bilateral ministerial meetings are also slated for November 21^st in Nis, and the two prime ministers will be attending a Serbian-Hungarian business forum as well.
The interior ministers of Serbia and Hungary, Nebojsa Stefanovic and Sandor Pinter, talked over the migrant crisis in Nis late on November 20^thagreeing that there was good cooperation between police in curbing human-trafficking. Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic announced that the joint session of governments would focus on projects significant to the entire region and that a deal would be signed to declare the Tisa an international navigable river. Vucic said at a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, after the meeting of the two governments, that Serbia and Hungary had sincere friendly political relations, and added that the aim was to further improve economic relations. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that the purpose of the joint session of the governments of Serbia and Hungary in Nis was improvement of relations between businessmen of the two countries, increasing trade and attracting investors. Vucic said that he and Orban talked about attracting investors from this country, not only in Vojvodina, but also in other parts of Serbia, adding that the opening of a branch of OTP Bank in Nis is therefore extremely important.

November 21^st

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban visited today the new 9.4km Prosek- Bancarevo road section on the eastern branch of Corridor 10.Vucic presented Orban the works on the whole Corridor 10, and particularly the eastern branch leading from Nis to the Bulgarian border. Orban congratulated the Serbian Prime Minister on everything that has been done and what he saw and especially commended the quality and speed of works. Also, the Prime Minister of Hungary was interested in the details of the implementation of the construction of Corridor 10 through Serbia. Vucic said that the completion of Corridor 10 through Serbia will significantly shorten the travel from Budapest through Belgrade towards Bulgaria, Macedonia or Greece. Also, we will have much safer roads, and vehicle traffc will be significantly increased, said Vucic. According to Vucic, the eastern branch of Corridor 10 is one of the most difficult sections because of mountainous landscapes. Vucic presented Orban the current works on Corridor 11, important for linking Serbia with Montenegro, as well as the planned construction of the motorway Nis-Pristina, adding that Nis is becoming a regional center and a major crossroads.

November 21^st

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said today at the Serbian-Hungarian business forum in Nis that good political relations between the two countries open the possibility for full cooperation in all fields of economy and announced direct connecting of entrepreneurs and companies. Speaking at the business forum held after the joint session of the two governments, Vucic told the Hungarian investors that the Serbian government will provide the best possible conditions for business. He told investors from Hungary that Serbia offers well-trained labour force, as well as very good incentives for any business they might want to start. According to the Prime Minister, our country also offers subsidies per job, the joint construction of infrastructural facilities, production facilities, access roads and more. Serbia can offer better conditions than any other country in the region, the Prime Minister underlined and added that it is also necessary to encourage Serbian investors try to invest in Hungary. Vucic pointed out that today a contract with a major Japanese company was signed which will employ 1,700 people in Sabac, while German factory Kromberg &Schubert, which specializes in production of car parts, has opened its production plant in Krusevac. The Serbia-Hungary Business Forum, which has gathered 250 businessmen and 170 companies, has been organized by the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Hungarian National Trading House.  According to data of the Serbian Statistical Office, the total foreign trade between Serbia and Hungary stood at €1.1 billion last year, which is approximately €50 million more in comparison to 2014, i.e. by 4.9% more.  In the first eight months of 2016, the trade between the two countries increased by 5% in relation to the same period last year, which was encouraged by the opening of Hungarian trade representative offices. Total export of goods to Hungary in 2015 stood at € 320.9 million and it accounted for 2.7% of the total export of Serbia.

November 21^st

Hungary’s OTP Bank has opened a new regional headquarters in Nis. The inauguration ceremony was held in the presence of Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán and Serbian PM Aleksandar Vučić, who both expressed their hope that the Nis investment would be profitable for both parties. According to preliminary reports, the total cost of the new regional headquarters was half a million euros. In his speech, President and CEO of OTP Sándor Csányi emphasized that OTP Bank appeared on the Serbian market ten years ago when it purchased Niska Banka and is planning on acquiring other bank branches with which it can rise to become one of the largest banks in Serbia .OTP is present in nine countries, has over 1300 branches and provides services to 12 million clients. Mr. Csányi highlighted the fact that good Hungarian-Serbian economic relations facilitate the economic development of both countries and continued good cooperation is expected in view of the fact that the signs of Serbian economic development and growth are already visible. Prime Minister Orbán said with relation to this that amongst others the members of the Hungarian Government had arrived in Southern Serbia to convince Hungarian enterprises that it was also worth searching for investment opportunities south of Belgrade. “The opening of the new OTP headquarters in Nis is proof that Serbia welcomes Hungarian investors, and Hungary supports these kinds of investments”, the Prime Minister added. “The opening of the branch is a symbolic moment that is testament to our economic policy of encouraging close cooperation”, Mr. Orbán continued. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic expressed his hope that the Nis investment would be profitable for both parties.

November 18^th

Two students from each primary school from Nis that meet the criteria of the Promens Center, after the workshops that will be organized in schools, will be given the opportunity to attend the eight-month Suan Pan Program to strengthen the potential of children in the developmental period. According to Milica Vukotić Jildirim, the director of Promens Center, this center will donate two tuition fees for each school. According to her, the data show that, after 8 months of this school, the attention and memory of children increase for 86%. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who presented the vouchers for this program to the directors of the primary school, thanked Promens Center for this donation, but also the respective city administration for education which recognized the importance of this program for the development of children and contributed to the realization of this donation.

November 18^th

The cooperation agreement was signed between the City of Nis and the humanitarian-ecological organization “From Bottle Cap to Smile”, so that boxes for the collection of the plastic bottle caps could be placed at the premises of Nis City administration. This initiative is supported by numerous institutions and companies. It is especially important that this action has a threefold role that is to recycle waste, to think about the environment and to develop humanity and solidarity with children and in people. In Nis, there are dozens of locations where you can leave bottle caps, including schools, but also socially responsible companies and public institutions. “We will be honored and pleased that this action is being implemented in the premises of the city administration, where boxes for collecting bottle caps will be placed on the basis of the signed contract. I sincerely believe the employees and all those who come to our premises will show a high level of social responsibility and that we all will actively participate in the implementation of this campaign, which aims to help children with disabilities in performing activities related to their education. Once again, I thank the organizers of this action for their readiness to include Nis in this story, and I hope that we will achieve successful cooperation,” said Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic on the occasion of the contract signing.

November 16^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with His Excellency Ambassador of Austria to the Republic of Serbia, Johannes Eigner, with whom he talked about the improvement of economic cooperation as well as cooperation in the field of education and culture. “Nis already has excellent connections with Austria but I believe that new Austrian investments will arrive in our city in the future”, said Mayor Bulatovic on this occasion. At today’s meeting it was announced that the Republic of Austria would open its first honorary consulate in Serbia in 2017 in Nis. The name of the Honorary Consul will be known next year.

November 16^th

Minister without Portfolio in the Government of the Republic of Serbia in charge of regional development and coordination of the work of public companies Mr. Milan Krkobabić met today with Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatović. The two officials discussed the development of Spa of Niska Banja, a tourist destination near Nis, which has been recording stagnation in its development in recent years. Minister Krkobabic pointed out that the prime minister tasked him to find a way together with the representatives of the local self-government to improve the situation in certain spas in Serbia and increase the tourist offer as well as the utilization of capacities. Mayor Bulatovic said that Spa of Niska Banja had excellent potential, because it had excellent balneological characteristics and was located close to the large city and airport that was connected with almost all of Europe. By adequate privatization and revitalization of the tourist offer, as well as hotels and accommodation capacities, this spa could in the meantime regain its former reputation. Previously, the Minister met with the president of this Niska Banja City Municipality, Mr. Dejan Jovanovic, to discuss the overall development of one of the oldest spas in Serbia.

November 16^th

In the presence of the Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Affairs Mr. Aleksandar Vulin, Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic opened the Job Fair within the Advanced Technologies Forum. At this Fair 30 companies, mainly from the IT sector, will present their personnel potentials and introduce the opportunities for employment. This Fair is organized within the second Forum of Advanced Technologies, whose main goal is to present Nis as the center of advanced technologies, and to contribute to the revival of the economy, attracting investments, preventing the outflow of labor and increasing employment through the promotion of production, scientific and educational and institutional resources. “By the joint efforts of all participants and with the support of the relevant system institutions, we want to make a step towards a common goa, i.e., the positioning of Nis as an important regional center of electronics, mechanical engineering and information and communication technologies,” said Mayor Bulatovic at the opening of the Fair. The specialized employment fair provides the opportunity to directly link job seekers with representatives of companies operating in the field of advanced technologies. The need for personnel in the field of information and advanced technologies is constantly increasing. Educational institutions are trying to offer as much as possible modern programs and ways of education in order to produce human resources according to the requirements of the labor market. At the Fair of Professional Orientation future high school students and future students of faculties and colleges will be able to get first-hand information on education in the field of advanced technologies.

November 15^th

“The Government of the Republic of Serbia is preparing the Strategy for the Development of Information Technologies in order to increase the personnel capacities in that sector”, Deputy Prime Minister Rasim Ljajic said at the opening of the Second Information Technology Forum in Nis. He said that there 1500 IT experts graduated annually, and that the Government’s goal was to reach 5000. Ljajic said that at this moment 15 000 IT experts could be recruited and reminded that the IT sector was the most profitable part of every economy. “About 19000 people working in Serbia in the sector export a software solution worth 450 million euros annually, and the goal is to increase exports in this sector to 1.5 billion euros in the next five years,” said the Deputy Prime Minister. He emphasized that until now little has been invested in science, research and innovation, and that it is necessary to connect scientific-research institutions and economy. “In EU countries, the average investment in science amounts to just over two percent of gross domestic product, and we are under one percent,” Ljajic said, adding that investment in science should amount to at least one percent. He said that Nis has potentials to become a regional center of new technologies and can contribute to the digital transformation of the country. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic pointed out that the Advanced Technology Forum should show what the advanced technology sector in our city was doing. He added that in Nis there are 170 companies and over 3 000 people working in this sector. “Nis has educational, institutional and economic potential to become the city of electronics again,” said Mayor Darko Bulatovic. The Forum of Advanced Technologies gathered about fifty participants, companies, schools and faculties. Within the Forum, the National Employment Service will organize the Fair of Professional Orientation.