May 09^th

This year, for the fourth time in a row, Nis joined the march of the “Immortal Regiment”. The “Immortal Regiment” is a traditional march, in which the descendants of fighters against fascism march through the streets of cities across Serbia, carry photos of their ancestors and symbolically remind them of the glorious days of the struggle against fascism. The official delegations paid their respects and laid flower wreaths at the monument to Soviet pilots who died in the so-called Nis incident in 1944 at the Memorial Complex of Former Concentration camp Crveni Krst. The procession of the Immortal Regiment went on through city streets to the city center and monument to the liberators of Nis. Respects were paid and the flower wreaths were laid by the official delegations of the City of Nis, Nisava District, Serbian Army and Police Forces. This is the second time that the March of the Immortal Regiment is supported by local self-government. It originally began in 2012 in the Siberian city of Tomsk, but this year, the Immortal Regiment is held in more than 110 countries and 500 cities all over the world. People join the processions holding the portraits of their relatives who fought in World War II, and every year the number of participating cities grows. The history of the Serbian people is closely connected with the history of Russia, as confirmed by this manifestation.

May 09^th

At the invitation of the Mayor of Kosice, Mr. Jaroslav Polacek, the representatives of the City of Nis, participated in a joint meeting of partner twin cities organized in Kosice, from May 5-7.The occasion for this meeting was the celebration of the 650^th anniversary of the awarding of the coat of arms to the city of Kosice, thus making the city the oldest one with the official coat of arms in Europe. The meeting was also the part off the jubilee celebration of the Day of the City of Kosice. The cities of Nis and Kosice signed the Twinning Agreement in 2001. Kosice is the second largest city in Slovakia, the cultural and economic center of the eastern part of the state and the administrative center of the Kosice region. Kosice is known as the Slovak city with the largest old urban city core, and it the first European city to receive its coat of arms (1369). In 2013, the city was proclaimed the European Capital of Culture, and in 2019 it was the first city in Central and Eastern Europe to be declared the European capital of volunteering. In May, the City of Kosice will host the World Ice Hockey Championship. The City of Nis presented itself to the hosts together with the cities of Ostrava – Czech Republic, Abaújszántó, Miskolc and Budapest  – Hungary, Katowice,  Krosno and Rzeszów – Poland, Vysoké Tatry – Slovakia and Uzhgorod – Ukraine.  Marina Kostic, Assistant Mayor, Nikola Lecić, Chief Urban Planner and Stela Jovanovic, expert associate at the Office for Local Economic Development and Projects and Honorary Consul of the Republic of Slovakia in Serbia were the members of Nis City Delegation.This meeting was an opportunity to dicuss with the hosts the future cooperation between the chambers of commerce of two cities, the national theaters and two planning departments, with an open possibility for other forms of cooperation that twin towns can accomplish, considering the possibilities, but above all, friendship for nearly two decades.

May 7^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the President of XINGYU Company Mrs. Xiaoping Zu, the President of the Company, related to the construction of the company’s factory in Nis. Mr. Goran Knezevic, the Minister of Economy, signed the MoU on behalf of the RS Government.   XINGYU is one of the leading manufacturers of LED lighting in the automotive industry with production facilities worldwide, including Germany, Japan and China, with clients such as AUDI, BMW, LANDROVER, PSA , RENAULT, OPEL; Japanese car manufacturers: TOJOTA, NISSAN, HONDA, MAZDA; American car manufacturers: GENERAL MOTORS and FORD and Chinese car manufacturers: CHERY, GAC, FAW-CAR, GLEE. Basic production of the company is located in China. Company plans to relocate part of production to Europe due to the proximity of its customers. The greater part of production for European customers would be realized in Serbia. The company chose to invest in Serbia and selected the Nis, after almost a year of negotiations and decision-making process, taking into consideration the experience of local Nis team in the implementation of the investment projects, the scope and method of implementing them, the location itself.  During this period of negotiations, four visits of various representatives of the company were organized, from October 2018 to May 2019, and a series of activities were undertaken to collect and deliver relevant information to representatives of investors, by the Office for Local Economic Development and Projects in cooperation with Development Agency of Serbia. The company recognized the industrial tradition of Nis, development resources, and human resources, which primarily relies on the capacities of the University of Nis, the logistics position of the city and the connection to the European destinations and the professionalism and commitment of the local team and management to the implementation of a joint project.