March 30^th

Public debate on the Law on Climate Changes draft, which represents the answer to climate change and the consequences of these changes, was held today in Nis City Assembly Hall. Minister of Environmental Protection Mr. Goran Trivan, who presented the law, said that one of the priority tasks of our state would be, among other things, afforestation of the terrain. Trivan pointed out that, in his opinion, this was one of the most important laws to be adopted by the current parliamentary convening because it applied to all sectors of society. Trivan pointed out that this law was important because our country belonged to the regions that would be most affected by climate change, as the central annual temperature here was likely to grow fastest. According to the Minister, it is necessary to work on raising awareness, but also to undertake actions on a global and national level that can mitigate the effects of climate change. The change in land use, poor waste water management, forest damage, etc. led to an increase in carbon dioxide concentration by 40%, an increase in average annual temperature by one degree in the last 100 years. Also, it was emphasized that the role of local governments in climate change is very important, and for this reason it is important to hear what this law is lacking from the perspective of those working on the local level. Public hearing was attended by representatives of the city, city municipalities, public utility companies scientific and educational institutions, expert inspections and services and civil society organizations.

March 29^th

The Fair of Tourism and Active Rest has been officially opened today in the Cair Hall. The opening was attended by high officials and a large number of fellow citizens, as well as a large number of exhibitors. Director of the Tourist Organization of Serbia Marija Labović welcomed all the guests with congratulations to the hosts on the excellent organization. “It is a great pleasure for me to be here today. I wish you many more years of successful work and that next one, jubilee 20^th fair is really special. I believe that it will really be so, because when we look at what results we achieve in tourism in Serbia, we can rightly expect this event to continue to live “, Labovic pointed out. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic welcomed all the distinguished guests and exhibitors. “This year I would say that it is a little bit easier than last, because we intensifying our activities in one of the important branches of the economy, such as tourism, and it seems to me and we begin to understand its significance, not only because we are good hosts because we know what we have and what we have to show but because tourism is significant for our entire city and region, “said Bulatovic. He announced significant progress and greater investment in this segment and added that extra efforts would be dedicated to make Nis powerful regional touristic center of the south-east of the country. Assistant Minister of Tourism Renata Pindzo said that it was a great pleasure to greet the present guest and exhibitors on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and our line ministry. “I truly believe that this fair is just another opportunity for Nis to present and show to all of Serbia what it possesses, its exceptional nature, extremely valuable cultural and historical heritage, but above all that something for which it is most famous for  – the hospitality, “she stressed .

March 19^th

The Forum was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, prof. Dr Zorana Mihajlović, Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria Tomislav Dončev, President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Marko Čadež and representatives of the economic sector of the two countries. The opening ceremony was attended by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatović. The results of the work of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Investment Agency of Bulgaria were presented, as well as the plans for future cooperation between the Serbian and Bulgarian economies during 2018. Economic cooperation with the Republic of Bulgaria takes place mainly through commodity exchange. According to its scope, Bulgaria is one of the most important trade partners of the Republic of Serbia.

March 19^th

On the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the Association of Greek-Serbian Friendship Agios Mateos from Corfu visited Nis. The reception was held at Nis City Hall on the occasion of the concert of the choir from Corfu. Nis City Council Member for Culture Jelena Mitrovski met with the guests from Corfu who, on this occasion, reminded everybody of the traditional ties between the Greeks and Serbs and the great historical events that connect this region inextricably with the island of Corfu.

March 16^th

The members of the City of Nis Security Council, headed by the President Mayor Dark Bulatovic, met today in the City House with representatives of civil society organizations in order to improve the draft of the Security Strategy. The assessment of the representatives of the civil sector is that this I strategic document of a good quality, that it contains all the real problems that the City of Niš faces in terms of security and that it is necessary, through the action plan, to define priority activities whose implementation would have an effect on the increase of the security levels in different areas defined by the strategy. The participants of today’s meeting agreed that the strategic document must be sustainable and accompanied by certain financial means that have to be defined by the budget. Among other things, at the meeting, it was said that the goal of the City and the OSCE, which jointly drafted this document, was for this document to be realistic and to take into account the citizens’ proposals which could be heard at the public hearings as well as the proposals of the civil society organizations that worked on this document.

March 15^th

The reception was organized for the Ambassador of Belarus in Serbia H.E. Mr. Valery Brylev at Nis City Hall. After the meeting with Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, the presentation of Nis economic potentials was held and the possibilities for cooperation in numerous fields with Belarus were discussed. The meeting was also attended by Honorary Consul of Belarus in Belgrade, Dragomir Karic. Mayor Bulatovic pointed out that the meeting was very comprehensive and that significant infrastructure projects were being presented to the ambassador. Ambassador Brylev was very optimistic with the respect to the economic cooperation between Nis and Belarus.

March 8^th

The obligation of all of us who participate in the public life of Nis is to create a tolerant society with a democratic culture, in which women will be equal with men. Being a woman, mother, wife and associate in modern society is everything but easy. We have strong, educated and powerful women, who must have the right to freedom of choice, equal working conditions and the same pay with men. Our activities will continue to advocate for a better status of women in socio-political life, for better conditions in the labor market, as well as for the full realization of personal and human dignity, said Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic on the occasion of the International Women’s Day. “The vision of modern, European Serbia is not possible without powerful and strong women! Only with you we can prosper more. Therefore, my dear friends, I invite you to build our Nis together; Nis as a developed metropolis with a democratic platform and social sensitivity to the gender, but also to every other diversity. I express my utter commitment and concern for you, because I will always support you and your ideas.

March 7^th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and his associates met today in the City House with a Chinese delegation led by His Excellency Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Serbia Li Manchang. The meeting focused on the possibilities of establishing cooperation between the City of Nis and Chinese investors, and at the same time, on the projects that were currently in the implementation phase. On this occasion Mayor Bulatovic pointed out that such a working visit was extremely important for our city and that there were many areas in which cooperation could be established. He particularly stressed that it would be particularly important for the city if some of the Chinese investors were interested in the Keles Landfill. His Excellency Ambassador Munchang noted that there were several projects related to which the cooperation could be established, such as landfill. “There is great interest from the Chinese side, but this is the beginning and we have to do it step by step. Twice more Chinese tourists have visited Serbia since January last year; I expect this number to be even bigger. In this regard, discussions are under way to establish a new direct line with China. Our friendly relations should help us to cooperate better in all areas, “Manchang said.

March 1^st

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Ms. Zorana Mihajlovic met today with Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the Director of Nis Airport Constantine the Great Vladica Djurdjanovic to discuss the present activities of the airport and plans for the future. “The state and the City of Nis, as the owner of the airport, have done a lot in the past few years to help airport in Nis develop and to reach the number of 320,000 passengers today,” Mihajlovic said. The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that the continuation of the investments in Nis Airport was important for Serbian aviation sector. “The Government of Serbia and the City of Nis will continue to invest in this airport in the future, because it should be an alternative airport for Belgrade Airport Nikola Tesla both for existing and new routes in the future,” Mihajlovic said. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic thanked the Deputy Prime Minister for their support stressing the importance of further investment in the development of the Nis Airport. Airport Constantine the Great should be, in full capacity, the alternative airport to Belgrade Airport Nikola Tesla as we have agreed today. It is in the interest of the state and the City of Nis, and above all the citizens of Serbia, to have even better coordination with the line ministry, the Belgrade airport and the company Air Serbia as Nis City Mayor said on this occasion.

February 14^th

On February 12^th, 2018, the Financial Times fDi magazine published a ranking list of financial, economic and business potentials of cities and regions of Europe. Cities and regions with the most promising potential for investment, economic development and economic growth have been identified in these ranking lists. City of Nis is on this list of the most promising cities based on its potential, evident growth of foreign investments and quality support of the city to local economic development and investments, through the Office for Local Economic Development and Projects. The continuous work and support of the Office and institutions of local self-government, as well as the significant support of the Republic of Serbia is behind this prestigious recognition and the results.

FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) European Cities and Regions of the Future 2018/2019  ranking aims to find the most promising cities and regions in Europe, not only in the EU but also outside. Nis, officially ranks seventh in the category of small European cities of the future 2018/2019. The cities of Debrecen Hungary, Derby, UK, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Plzen, Czech Republic, Redding, UK, Deri/ Londonderry, UK, ranked better than Ns and cities such as Oulu, Finland, Middleborough, UK and Belfast, UK came after Nis on this list. Nis, as a region, was ranked according to the same criteria and came in the third place in the category of small European regions with regard to attracting foreign direct investment, after the Greate, Helsinki region in Finland and the Eindhoven region in the Netherlands. The regions in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, the Republic of Srpska and Bosna and Hercegovina ranked after Nis on this list.

In order to make shortlist of the fDi European Cities and Regions of the Future 2018/2019 Financial Times collected data using special on-line tools, fdi references and data from the fdi market, as well as other sources. Data were collected for 489 locations and 150 regions in five categories: economic potential, human capital, operating costs, infrastructure and business environment. Locations received a maximum of 10 points for each of the categories, which was measured by the significance of the process of foreign investment realization, in order to rank cities and regions first in subgroups and then in final ranking groups.

In addition, the research was carried out in six categories of foreign direct investments. In this category, the ranking the participants themselves submitted a report detailing their strategy for attracting foreign investment, which was then rated by the Financial Times jury. The jury has taken into account the size of cities and regions, so they are divided to large, medium, small and micro. Criteria for evaluation, in terms of assessment, were numerous: 20 in the sphere of economic potential, 15 in the domain of human capital and quality of life, 18 in the domain of business costs, 19 in the domain of availability, i.e., geographical position and transport connectivity and 23 criteria for the business environment, i.e., for the support that the city, i.e., the region provides to complete process of support to foreign direct investment.

City of Nis deserved this prestigious position of thanks to, above all, successful investments and the construction of new factories, which created jobs for 10,000 employees, with another 7,000 new jobs expected in the period until the final realization of the projects, the way of working and cooperation with investors, the experience of existing investors and the way of promotion and valorization of the potentials of the city: strong University of Nis, industrial tradition, the existence of infrastructure in the city and road connectivity of the city to European roads, as well as clear support of local self-government through the Office for Local Economic Development and Projects and other institutions and quality of life that are guaranteed by the current, large, infrastructural projects of the City of Nis.

Financial Times is an international business magazine that is considered one of the most respected magazines in the world, i.e., the most-read among top business people around the world, and one of the thematic publications of Financial Times is FDI Magazine.

Based on the recognized results, the City of Nis was contacted by Financial Times FDI Magazine in September 2017 and was invited to provide additional information on the basis of which the ranking was performed. It is especially important that the City of Nis received the award in the FDI Strategy category  which is given for success in attracting investments and the way the city works with investors through the processes of attracting and realization of investments, but also the way the city cooperates with existing investors after the completion of construction, i.e., project implementation.

The City of Nis will be presented the award at the event held in Cannes at MIPIM, one of the largest investment and real estate fairs in the world. The very fact that the City of Nis was recognized and awarded this recognition represents a kind of promotion and confirmation of correct strategic decisions. On the occasion of this award, Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said: “It is a great honor that the Financial Times recognized our efforts and achieved results. This award is proof that we are on the right path, an incentive and an obligation to continue working and make Nis the economic center of this part of Serbia and the Balkans. “