March 8^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Belgrade Mr. Amr Aljowaily, with whom he discussed possibilities for improving cooperation, primarily in the field of tourism and improvement of the tourist offer of Nis. Ambassador Aljowaily and his associates presented to Mayor Bulatovic the experiences Egypt had in modern ways of presenting archaeological sites and possibilities for applying this knowledge in Nis, primarily at the site of Mediana, Fortress and other locations that were interesting to the tourists. Mayor Bulatovic informed the guests about the potentials of Nis in the field of tourism and said that Egypt was an example of how archaeological and historical treasure could be used for the development of tourism and that kind of experience could be useful to be applied in Nis which was one of the oldest cities in this part of Europe, with an impressive historical heritage. Bulatovic emphasized the significance and increasing investments of the state of Serbia in the Nis Airport Constantine the Great which, he said, was “a gate through which an increasing number of foreign tourists were coming to our city.” The talks also highlighted the willingness of Egyptian airline companies to establish routes between Nis and Hurghada, since, as it was jointly assessed, it was big and still unused opportunity to improve economic cooperation between two friendly countries and in particular the possibility for greater number of people from Serbia to visit Egypt, and also for people from the largest country of North Africa to come to Nis and get to know the city and this part of Europe. The official request has already been submitted to the authorities in Belgrade, and the approval of the Directorate for Civil Air Transport and the competent state authorities is expected.

March 8^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Serbia, Mr. Denis Keefe, who was on a two-day visit to Nis within the British PopUp Embassy Project organized for the first time in our city. The Mayor thanked the guest from Great Britain for what he said “a wonderful action that our young fellow citizens were involved in. He also took the opportunity to present to the Ambassador Keefe numerous projects that were being implemented in the city, from infrastructure facilities to science and technology systems, whose goal, as the Mayor said, was to create conditions for improving the quality of life and standards of our citizens. Ambassador Keefe conveyed to Mayor Bulatovic his satisfaction with what he saw and experienced during his stay in Nis and said that the possibilities for cooperation in all areas, culture, economy, education and science were great, and that in every sense the United Kingdom supported the reforms in Serbia on its way to the European Union.
“Nis and York in England have been linked since Emperor Constantine the Great, as Constantine had been born in Nis and crowned in York, and in modern times, every citizen of Great Britain can only be grateful to the citizens of Nis for friendship and alliance that dated back to the First World War, as evidenced by the burial ground where the British soldiers and nurse who died in this area were buried. Also the founder of the company Lipton Tea Sir Thomas Lipton was in Serbia in a philanthropic mission and visited Nis, where he was bestowed the title of the honorary citizen, as a recognition and gratitude for transporting medical personnel, medical supplies and humanitarian aid with his ships for the needs of Serbian hospitals during the First World War in 1915. The meeting between the Ambassador and the Mayor was joined by Ms. Lena Jovanovic, a third-grade student of the Grammar School Bora Stankovic from Nis who won the competition and became the Ambassador for a day.