May 12^th

The Minister without portfolio in the Government of Serbia Milan Krkobabic said at a meeting at City Hall with representatives of the City of Nis, of the surrounding municipalities and cooperatives that Serbian villages should not remain empty, and that the Government of Serbia, at the proposal of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, adopted the decision on the establishment of new and revitalisation of existing agriculture cooperatives. Minister Krkobabic said that the existing and newly established cooperatives would get 12.5 and 6.2 million dinars. He explained that the money could be used for planting, enlarging the flock, and the purchase of machinery; however it could not be used to cover the financial debts. The aim for the next three years, starting from this one, to form 500 cooperatives in 500 large villages which will enable fruit growers, truck farmers, livestock breeders, easier access to markets.

According to Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur Serbian government defined the program and the public call was to come next and the local government would provide all necessary support for strengthening the cooperatives in this part of our country. The goal, as it was said at the meeting that brought together a large number of people, to revive the Serbian village and to keep young people in the countryside to live and work.

May 12^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovićc and CEO of Ayala-led Integrated Micro-Electronics Incorporated (IMI) Eric de Candido signed the contract on alienation of land property of five hectares for development on the site known as Lozni Kalem. Thus the realization of investment project of building the factory in our city started.
According to Mayor Bulatovic the investor bought the land through the public auction at the market price of 236 451 008,00 dinars and with the help of the Serbian government and the City of Nis will start manufacturing plant and employ 1,250 workers. This factory will employ a large number of university graduates, mainly engineers. The mayor said on this occasion that the City of Nis and the Faculty of Electronic Engineering would provide all necessary support to the investor so that this investment project would be realized in accordance with the plans and the schedule that was previously agreed with the company. The Director of IMI Eric de Candido announced the ground breaking ceremony during this summer. Memorandum of Understanding with the Republic of Serbia and City of Nis was signed on August 19^th 2016. The total value of the investment in fixed assets for the period from 2016 to 2026 is 32 million euros.

IMI offers electronics manufacturing services and power semiconductor assembly and test services. Its market spans the automotive, industrial, medical, solar energy, telecommunications infrastructure, storage device, and consumer electronics industries. IMI currently has operations in the United States, Mexico, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, China, Singapore, and the Philippines.