October 13^th

UN special rapporteur on the rights in the field of culture Karim Benun met today in Nis with Nis City Mayor Dark Bulatovic and his associates, within her several-day visit to our country. A visit to Nis, a city in which 20 national minorities live, is part of the planned activities of Mrs. Benun, who is in Serbia for the first time in order to become acquainted with the state of cultural rights and the protection of cultural heritage in this region. Mayor Bulatovic informed Karim Benun about the activities that the city has been carrying out in this field and pointed out that Nis has always been a city of different cultures, religions and nations, and that this difference has been seen as a wealth and opportunity for the development and improvement of the lives of all its inhabitants.

October 14^th

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said today at the opening of the Serbia-Albania Business Forum in Nis that businessmen and investors from Albania were welcome and that the doors of the government of Serbia and the Serbian market were wide open to them. Vucic said at the business forum which was also attended by Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama that Serbs and Albanians were the two biggest nations in the Balkans and that they should not allow others to continue governing their relations. He pointed out that the two countries have managed to build friendship and must now work to develop economic cooperation and increase trade. It is important to behave rationally. Irrespective of political differences, we have managed to build trust because I believe that we want friendship, Vucic said and stressed that the two countries were linked by their common strategic commitment to joining the EU. The Prime Minister thanked the businessmen from Serbia and Albania for coming in large numbers to the forum, stating that he and Rama were very proud that the hall where the forum was being held is full.
Vucic also said that he was happy that the forum was being held in Nis, in south-eastern Serbia, for which he said was an intersection of roads and good business and a place that would represent the center of progress in Serbia and the entire region. He noted that some progress has been made in trade between the two countries and said that the trade of only €102 million was very small. We want to dramatically increase this trade, the Prime Minister said. The Serbia-Albania Business Forum was attended by about 300 representatives of companies and businessmen from both countries, and it was the first large meeting of Serbian and Albanian businessmen, which should contribute to the approximation of Serbian and Albanian business communities. The hosts of the forum were President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Marko Cadez and President of the Business Albania Association Ljuan Bregazi. After the plenary part of the forum, bilateral meetings of businessmen were held, during which representatives of the business communities of Serbia and Albania discussed concrete cooperation and joint projects. The forum brought together companies from the food industry, trade, electrical and mechanical, civil, chemical, metal and wood industries, as well as from the field of tourism and hospitality, and telecommunications. A memorandum of understanding for establishing an Albanian-Serbian industrial and trade chamber, with headquarters in Tirana, was signed at the forum.

October 12^th, 2016

On the occasion of the “Venezuelan Culture Week” in the City of Nis, the Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, Mr. Rade Rajkovic organized office reception for the Ambassador of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venuzela in Serbia, Her Excellency, Dr Dia Nader de El Andari.

The Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, Mr. Rajkovic, on behalf of the citizens of Nis, thanked Her Excellency, Dr Dia Nader de El Andari, for her efforts to organize this event in Nis and to enable our citizens to better learn about the culture of Venezuela. This will certainly contribute to the rapprochement of our countries and to the creation of better prospects for cooperation.

As far as cooperation is concerned, said Mr. Rajkovic, it can be developed primarily in the fields of culture, education, tourism and sports, whereas a mutual interest is to find a way for cooperation in the field of economy.

Showing gratitude for the welcome, Her Excellency, the Ambassador Dr Dia Nader de El Andari also pointed out to a number of areas in which the cooperation could and should be developed. She also emphasized that her mission is to help Serbia establish its Embassy in Caracas as soon as possible and pleasurably accepted to organize the exchange of cultural and artistic programs in the future.

Apart from the Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, Mr. Rajkovic, The Chairman of the City Municipality Mediana, Mr. Milan Krstic and the Director of the Tourist Organization of Nis, Mr. Uros Parlić, also welcomed Her Excellency, Dr Dia Nader de El Andari; they also had the chance to present, in general outline, the values of Nis, which the guests from Venezuela could find interesting.

October 5^th, 2016

A two-day conference of the Association of the European Cities of Culture (AVEC), whose full member is the City of Niš, was held in the Hungarian city of Szombathely (Szombathely)

From October 1^st to October 3^rd, the meetings of the Association were also attended by the representatives of the City of Nis, by the representatives of the Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš Office and the City Municipality of Mediana, which is a special member of the Association. AVEC has its own specificity, because it deals only with the areas that are of importance for the City of Niš, namely with the cultural and historical heritage and the sustainability of tourism in small towns. The concept of the sustainability of these areas is an important task for the future, through setting up and meeting the specific standards that lead to a better understanding of the historical and cultural heritage, as well as to the rapid development of tourism. The overall objective of all these aforementioned is commercial and economic well-being of the local governments that implement these standards.

Given the fact that the Association is working closely with UNESCO, the issues discussed about, at the conference in Hungary, included, among others, the possibilities for the City of Niš to apply for EU funds and UNESCO through bilateral or multilateral cooperation, within the network of the cities. Recently, the Association has expanded the area of cooperation on certain agricultural sectors which have tourism potential, such as wine-making.

The representatives of the City of Nis at this gathering had the active participation, through the presentation of the latest potentials of the city, bearing in mind the development of the air traffic and modernization of the work of the Tourist Organization of Nis. The appeal was lodged to make AVEC internet presentations and their following-publications also in the Serbian language.  The ideas and experiences were exchanged with the Mayor of Szombathely, with regard to improving the work of the museums and the cooperation of local self-governments with the Ministries of foreign affairs, culture and tourism, while the implementation of the project ideas would be especially enlarged on during the visit of the President of the Association of European Cities of Culture (AVEC), Mr. Christian Mourisard to the City of Nis, from November 1^st to November 4^th, 2016.

October 5^th

The delegation of the City of Nis visited its twin city Kursk, in the Russian Federation, on the occasion of the celebration of the Day of this city. A special occasion for this visit was marking ten years since the signing of the Agreement on Cooperation between Nis and Kursk. The guests who attended festive events had the opportunity to see an exhibition of photographs dedicated to the history of cooperation between Kursk. At the ceremonial session of the City of Kursk Assembly, the heads of the delegations of the towns of Nis, Viten and Debno were greeted with letters of thanks for the mentioned anniversaries.The friendly relations between Nis and Kursk date back to 1920, when the icon “The Sign of the Mother of God” Kurskaja Korenaja was kept in Nis. In the meantime, these relations have been interrupted by numerous wars. Many years later, on the mutual initiative of two fraternal cities, negotiations began on both re-establishment and possible expansion of cooperation in various fields. In September 2006, long-standing friendly relations between two cities finally got their legal form. The Agreement on Cooperation between the City of Nis and the City of Kursk was signed. Two years ago, a memorial plaque was placed in one street in Nis, now called “Kurska Street”.

August 2^nd

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Nis Edvin Sugarov at Nis City Hall. The two officials discussed the cooperation between the city and the consulate and the further improvement of cooperation.

“The City of Nis and the City of Sofia have excellent long-term cooperation, and the cross-border cooperation is also of interest for the two countries, which is reflected in joint projects funded by the European Union and which are very important for improving the co-existence of two peoples in the border areas, “said Mayor Bulatovic. He pointed out that it was agreed to form two teams that will work together to improve the cooperation and help realize all projects that are mutually important. Two companies owned by Bulgarian citizens – PZP Trace and Niska Brewery are successfully operating in the city, and in the economic sense, the improvement of relations between the two countries is very important.
The Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Nis Edvin Sugarov congratulated the Mayor on the election for the first man of the city and wished him a lot of success in further work expressing the belief that the cooperation will continue to be high in the future.

The International Students’ Folklore Festival is organized for the ninth time in Nis Nis Student Cultural Center in Nis. The reception was organized at Nis City Hall for the participants of the Festival and on this occasion the Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur welcomed all participants and stressed the importance of preserving tradition through the fostering of folk dances, pointing out that times of hardships songs and dances preserved and consolidated the spiritual identity of our nation. The reception was attended by guests from Costa Rica, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia and members of Serbian folklore ensembles from Kosovo and Metohija. Nis City Deputy Mayor presented the statue of Constantine to all the ensembles as a small memorabilia of their time spent in Nis.

By parading through main pedestrian street Nis and with the performance of the ensembles in the amphitheater on the quay, 9^th International Students’ Folklore Festival began which would end on July20^th with   a big concert on the Summer Stage in Nis Fortress. This year the audience here in Nis will be able to see folk ensembles from six countries, but the biggest attraction of the festival are the participants from San Jose (Costa Rica), who are for the first time in Serbia.
Before a packed amphitheater on the quay the rich folkloric tradition was presented by ensembles from Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Costa Rica and Serbia. On the behalf of the City of Nis the guest were welcomed by Jelena Mitrovski, Nis City Council Member.

The Organizer and the founder of the Festival is Students’ Cultural Center Nis and its Folklore Ensemble ORO with the support of the City of Nis.  The festival tries to introduce folklore traditions and diverse national cultures to citizens of Nis and southeast Serbia and to present our large cultural heritage as well.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic together with Nis City Council Member Mrs. Jelena Mitrovski and Assistant Mayor for Economy and Investment Mr. Dragoslav Pavlovic met with the H.E. Mrs. Dagmar Repcekova, the Ambassador of Slovak Republic to Serbia, at the reception hosted at Nis City Hall. The further possibilities of cooperation were discussed during the meeting taking into consideration that from October 31^st there would be direct flights from Nis to Bratislava which would bring two cities closer as Mayor Bulatovic said. The new possibilities open up for cooperation between Slovak and Nis businessmen of Nis. On this occasion Ambassador Repcekova expressed her gratitude to all those who helped after a horrific car accident on the highway near Nis, in which five Slovak citizens died.

The new grant program to support innovative research projects in Serbia has been presented today to the businessmen and representatives of the scientific community at the meeting organized at Nis City Hall in cooperation with the Regional Development Agency South and Regional Chamber of Commerce. The participants were welcomed on the behalf of Nis City Mayor by Mr. Dragoslav Pavlovic, Assistant Mayor for Economy and Investments.

The cooperation programme is being implemented by the Innovation Fund and it is funded by the European Union, in the amount of 2.4 million euros, and the Republic of Serbia, in the amount of 1 million euros. It is designed with the technical assistance of the World Bank. The Fund provides grants amounting to 300 000 euros per project, and in the next months, it will be presented in Belgrade, Kragujevac, Cacak, Novi Sad and Novi Pazar.

The application for the funds can be submitted by the consortium of maximum five members consisting of at least one private small, micro and medium-sized enterprise established in Serbia, with annual revenues of at least 200 000 euros, and a public scientific research organization, also registered in Serbia.

Cooperation programme between science and business is one of the pillars on which the Innovation Fund together with its partners base their comprehensive and consistent commitment to strengthen innovation sector as one of the cornerstones of the local economy based on knowledge.

In addition to this program, since March 2016, the Fund has been implemented a pilot program for technology transfer TTF Programme, funded by the EU, with the objective to enable the redirection of public knowledge from academic research organizations to the private sector by linking researchers with businesses. In June 2016 the Innovation Fund signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Nis.

Since 2011, Republic of Serbia Innovation Fund has been actively promoting links between science, technology and economy and contributes to the development of innovative entrepreneurship. The Delegation of the European Union in Serbia has been supporting the work of the Fund since its establishment. The Fund has awarded financial support to more than 50 inventions developed in young and technologically mature domestic private enterprises under the Support to Innovation in Serbia Project financed by EU funds in the amount of 8.4 million euros. EU support will continue through additional funds in the amount of 4.9 million euros for the implementation of the Program of cooperation between science and business, to the work of the Office of Technology Transfer under the Program TTF and to the development of the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia  for period 2016-2020.