Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met today with the Ambassador of Sweden Mr. Jan Lundin on the occasion of his visit to Nis. The direct reason for the visit of the Swedish ambassador is the preparation of the big music festival for children Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe that would be held in Nis in June. This music festival is jointly assisted by the embassies of European countries in Serbia, since each of the city participants represented a country from Europe by singing in the language of those countries. Serbia and Sweden have excellent diplomatic relations. There are a lot of Serbs living in Sweden. As a developed but primarily responsible country, Sweden is helping Serbia in its efforts to integrate into the European Union, and many projects of importance for infrastructure modernization are supported by Sweden. Two officials discussed the cooperation between two countries and especially the projects implemented in Nis and assisted by Sweden.

Serbian-Hungarian Forum on Water Management was opened today gathering companies from two countries operating in the sector of water management. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic welcomed the participants and emphasized the excellent cooperation between the two countries. In his address the Mayor spoke about the high quality drinking water in the city, but also about the problem of wastewater, which the city seriously approached and intended to permanently solve. The Ambassador of Hungary in Serbia, His Excellency Attila Pinter, also attended the Forum, which also highlighted the importance of improving relations between the two countries, especially when it comes to the economy.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and his associates met today with a delegation of businessmen from the People’s Republic of China led by H.E. Ambassador of China to Serbia, Li Manchang. The possible joint projects of the City and Chinese businessmen were discussed at the meeting such as regional landfill and street lighting in the city. At the same time, the representatives of the City of Nis also presented projects for the construction of a logistics center, scientific and technological park, as well as light rail transport that could also be realized in cooperation with Chinese partners. Mayor Bulatovic and Ambassador Li Munchang agreed that the potential for cooperation was large and that, after further consultations and analyzes, concretization of what was discussed today could be expected.

The 15^th anniversary of the French Institute in Nis was celebrated. The French Institute is part of the 130 French institutes in the world. In Serbia, the French institute is located in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis. The mission of the French Institute is to reinforce the French language in Serbia in education (schools, trainings, universities), to enable students to go and study in France: give them an opportunity for mobility in Europe, to encourage society debates, to provide a resource center, to stand as a cultural actor in Serbia, to advise Serbia in its integration process in the European Union and institutional cooperation.  At the ceremony on this worthy anniversary the audience was addressed by H.E. the Ambassador of France to Serbia, Frederik Mondoloni, and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic. Since its establishment on April 16^th, 2003, the French Cultural Center – now the French Institute in Serbia is more than ever present in the field of culture, science and university cooperation. As the part of the celebration the exhibition of paintings Aleksandra Miric was organized.

The city forum was held on the subject of Serbian-French relations and a long-standing friendship between two nations on the occasion of the 15^th anniversary of the French Institute in Nis. At the Forum H.E. French Ambassador to Serbia Frederik Mondoloni, Dr Aleksandra Mirić, an artist from Nis, and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic spoke about Serbian-French relations. Ambassador Mondoloni thanked evryone for the brilliant reception in Nis and expressed his satisfaction with the fact that France was very much represented in Nis.
The Mayor talked about the current relations with the City of Arles with a special emphasis on friendship and the exchange of experiences. Ms. Aleksandra Miric, who completed her PhD studies from architecture and archeology, spoke about her experience of studying in France.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and his associates met today with His Excellency the Ambassador of the Republic of France to Serbia Mr. Frederik Mondolini, who visited Nis on the occasion of celebrating the 15^th anniversary of the French Institute in Nis. The Mayor and Ambassador discussed the cooperation and long-standing friendship between France and Serbia, as well as the importance of the existence of the French Institute, which has been successfully working in Nis for 15 years. The Ambassador thanked the Mayor for the wholehearted support that the City of Nis has been providing to the institute, which is important for the spread of French culture and bringing together two nations. The two officials also discussed the projects that Nis have been implementing with the City of Arl  in the area of valorization of cultural and historical heritage, but also about the projects that would be carried out in connection with archaeological excavations inside Nis Fortress. In this way, the conditions will be created for the cultural treasures of Nis to facilitate city development presenting our culture and history.

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 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.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the Macedonian sports delegation that was visiting the city as a guest of the Section of Sports Journalists in Nis, on the occasion of the event of the presenting the award to the athletes of the year from Nis, organized by the Section of Sports Journalists. The delegation was comprised of the leaders of the Association of Sports Journalists of Macedonia, Mr. Bosko Trpeski and Mr. Dejan Tanevski, as well as the Macedonian football legends Mr. Koco Dimitrovski and Mr. Blagoj Istatov. Mayor Bulatovic pointed out that the two countries had good diplomatic and sports relations, and especially emphasized that both nations achieved significant results in the collective and individual sport. He announced that the City of Nis had new plans related to the improvement of sports infrastructure in Nis, which would greatly affect the future goals of Nis clubs and their achievements. He announced that City of Nis would try to find the suitable location  for the construction of a multifunctional hall, which would create all the necessary conditions for maintaining the world’s highest sports ranking in Nis.