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STUDENTS FROM PFORZHEIM SECONDARY SCHOOL VISITED NIS

March 18th

The students from the Business School from the German city of Pforzheim are the guests of Nis Secondary Law and Business School. The reception was organized at Nis City Hall for professors and students, and the delegation was received by the member of Nis City Council Ms. Jelena Mitrovski. They did not know much about Nis and Serbia before they arrived here, and they were pleasantly surprised with what they saw and experienced here. “The city is beautiful, you have wonderful monuments, we have learned something about your history and culture. People are friendly and hospitable, and food is great, “said students from Germany. Both the hosts and the guests from Germany attend the business schools, so they also work on common business ideas on a daily basis. This visit is a continuation of an international project that began ten years ago with the goal of exchanging experiences in education, improving English and learning about two cultures and customs.




NIS AND CUPRIJA – PARTNERS IN THE PROJECT

March 15th

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the Mayor of Cuprija Mr. Ninoslav Eric signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on the project “Effective and Effective Property Management in Nis and Cuprija through the Introduction of the Geographic Information System”. The goal of the project is to create conditions for improving the management of property through the inventory and legalization of public property in Nis and Cuprija and increase the transparency of the work of the public administration by the introduction and development of the Geographic Information System (GIS) and the creation of an application for GIS. In this way public administration will be closer to the citizens and the business community. “Implementation of the project in Nis and Cuprija will create unique database of integrated records for all property, together with applications for all aspects and processes of asset management. In practice, this means that, by realizing this project, we will have systematized complete data on the property of the City of Nis, both land and other immovable property, so that citizens, potential investors and all interested parties will have access to these data without waiting in line ” as it was said by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic after the signing of the MoU.  He emphasized that the use of this property management model owned by Nis and Cuprija meant strengthening administrative capacities and more efficient asset management, increasing revenues, better control of costs, better risk management and adequate asset maintenance. The president of the Municipality of Cuprija Ninoslav Eric pointed out that this was very important project and that he was looking forward to implementing it with the City of Nis. “The experience Nis has in the property inventory is very important for us, since we are at the beginning. I expect that, after realization of the planned project activities, there will be a reduction in costs and an increase in revenues from property owned by our local self-government, “said Eric. “Nis and Cuprija have a large number of different real estate but without precise and legally relevant data. Bearing in mind that effective public asset management imposes itself as the priority requirement in the process of development and modernization, the Office for Local Economic Development Projects, together with its partner, jointly developed a project proposal to solve identical problems”, said Project Manager Ana Radovanovic from the Office for Local Economic Development and Projects. She added that Nis and Cuprija intend to provide rational use and management of property in accordance with the Law on Public Property and the Law on Planning and Construction and put the property in the function of investing and increasing the revenues of local self-government. The project is also of multiple importances both for potential investors who will be able to obtain easier and faster information on targeted locations, as well as for citizens who, as end-users, need a reliable, responsible and open administration. Improving the management of public assets and finances creates the possibility for savings in the budget as well as conditions for sustainable local economic development. The project is financed by EU (IPA 2014) through the Exchange5 Program – EU support to local governments in the field of asset management. The program is implemented by the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government in cooperation with the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) as the implementing partner of the program and the Ministry of Finance (the Sector for Contracting and Financing Programs from EU funds) as the Contracting Authority in the program.




FORUM OF YOUNG SCIENTISTS OPENED

March 15th

 “The young are the future of Serbia and Nis, and I would say the present as well, and that is why the City will invest the most that it can in your education, development and finally, into employment. Because of you we are building a Scientific Technology Park, a new building of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering, and we are investing serious funds in secondary and primary schools, because you are the most important resource for this city and this country”, said Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic on the occasion of opening the 5th Forum of Young Scientists at the University of Nis. More than five hundred of the most successful, most talented and educated young people from almost all of Serbia gathered on this occasion at University of Nis. The Fifth Forum was organized by the Organization Find Raul together with the Youth Office of the City of Nis. This year the partner of the event was the Embassy of Kazakhstan, which under the slogan Support the Future helped Nis to be the capital of science today. The main theme of the Forum this year was young talents and role models for young people.




NIS THEATRE FESTIVAL OPENED

March 12th

The first theater festival entitled “Theater at the Crossroads” began last night at the National Theater in Nis. “Theater at the Crossroads” is a competitive festival of drama and the theater of the Balkan cultural space organized by the Nis National Theater. By March 19th, eight contestants and one guest performance from Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia will be shown. In addition to eight competition performances from the country and the region and performances in honor of the winners, whose premiere performances were played during the preceding calendar year a number of accompanying programmes would be organized: a round table of critics, a panel “Theater at the Crossroads”, as well as the promotion of books and theater journals. The festival will include prizes for: best performance, directing, four acting awards, costume design and stage design, for original stage music, for stage movement, and special festival award. Until March 19th Nis will be, in the true sense of the word, the theater capital of culture that will gather actors, directors, journalists, critics from the Balkans. “As the only theater festival that, in one place, wants to gather the theater art of the Balkan cultural space the festival aims to affirm the similarities and differences of the cultural identity of the states and peoples sharing the same space strengthening international cultural exchange, the promotion of theater arts and creators, the exchange of ideas and theatrical practices, and it is dedicated to the challenges and perspectives of contemporary theater“ as Spasoje Z. Milovanovic, the director of Nis National Theatre, said. “All this would not be possible if it were not for the citizens of Nis who had this need for such important cultural content and such a significant festival”, said Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who added that “this festival was significant for the wider Balkan cultural space. It is so important for us as well, for the people of Nis, who have the opportunity to show their creative and artistic work and achievements, and to show our hospitality. I would like to warmly welcome all the people, guests, actors, directors who came to our city.”




EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR IN NIS: WE WANT TO FLY TO HURGHADA FROM NIS

March 8th

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.




RECEPTION FOR THE AMBASSADOR OF UNITED KINGDOM

March 8th

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.




AMBASSADOR OF NORWAY IN NIS

March 7th

Ambassador of Norway to Serbia Mr. Arne Sannes Bjornstad visited Nis and met with Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, and the directors of the cultural Institutions in Nis on the development and promotion of, first of all, cooperation in the field of culture. Mayor Bulatovic presented to Ambassador Bjornstad the conceptual designs for the construction of a multifunctional cultural center. During the discussion between the Mayor and the Ambassador the willingness of both parties to deepen and expand already successful cooperation in many areas was highlighted and Ambassador Bjornstad stressed the readiness of the Norwegian Embassy, ​​and the Norwegian Government in general, to support all initiatives that are aimed at improving relations, both through support and assistance to theater and music ensembles, festivals, art galleries and museum and other cultural institutions to present  themselves to the Norwegian audience, but also willingness to participate in organizing the arrival and presentation of Norwegian cultural workers in Nis. Mayor Bulatovic once again expressed his gratitude to Norway for the generous support it has been providing for many years to our city through different programmes and projects. He also pointed out the fact that numerous Serbian Diaspora lived in Norway which presented another incentive for improving cooperation in all areas. Mayor Bulatovic added that Nis would initiate establishing direct flights from Nis Airport to some destination in Norway. The two officials also discussed the possibility of establishing closer cooperation between Nis and some city of the same size in Norway. The Ambassador proposed Bergen and suggested that City of Nis should convey its interests to that city in establishing closer cooperation.




CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR MULTIFUNCTIONAL CULTURAL CENTER PRESENTED

March 6th

A multifunctional cultural center in Nis will be built on 15,000 square meters, and it will be located at the corner of Nemanjic Boulevard and Blagoje Parovic Street. There are five thousand square meters of exhibition space, an amphitheater with about 1,800 seats, a large parking space, hotel, bars and restaurants envisaged for this cultural center. The contest for the design was launched in the second half of 2018, by the City of Nis Office for Local Economic Development and Projects. 10 proposals were submitted. The expert commission chose the work the architects Aleksandar Slaviković and Dejan Miletic from Belgrade. “The whole object is designed in the form of a cube that would follow the external forms and spaces that can be used during the day and outside the working hours of the building,” said Slaviković. According to him the building is conceived in the spirit of modern design but in accordance with the environment where it will be located. “There is a big gallery space, and amphitheater, cafes, as well as hotel space, where the performers will stay,”Slavikovic said. The chief city planner Nikola Lecić pointed out that the location itself is one of the last unconstructed larger blocks in this area. Within this urban block there will be the future Cultural Center which represents a multipurpose building for the needs of culture and other cultural manifestations. “The second phase is the property ownership preparation of the site that should be owned by the city before obtaining a building permit. We expect that these activities will be completed this year and that next year we will have project which will be ready to compete whether for state funds or other funds. The member of the commission, Goran Vojvodic said that the winning project design stood out not only by the quality of the solution, but also by the way in which the theme was elaborated.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that the construction of this multifunctional cultural center was of great importance for the development of Nis. Culture is the first place where the state and its society are viewed, the sense of quality life and a high standard of living are not measured only by the profit, but also by the quality of educational, cultural, and art institutions in the city, with the comprehensiveness of cultural opportunities, “Bulatovic said. He added that many cities in the world built their recognizable image by some famous cultural institution or event. “By building a multi-purpose cultural center, we want to create better conditions for development and encouragement of the cultural and artistic creativity, provide better conditions for accessibility to cultural content, and encourage innovation and creativity,” Bulatovic said. “Thanks to investments Nis is developing economically, all necessary conditions are created for sustainable development and investments in sports, art, culture and all those contents that make the lives of our citizens more complete and more beautiful. In this regard, I am pleased that the City of Nis has started to implement the project of building a multifunctional cultural center and I am really pleased that we as the Office for Local Economic Development and Projects could give our contribution. I am sure that we have succeeded in our intention and that the City of Nis chose a valuable conceptual solution for a multipurpose facility whose construction is expected with great attention, not only because of the prosperity that it will bring in the field of culture, but also because it will give a completely different, urban look to the city area where it will be built”, said Milan Randjelovic, the Head of Nis City Office for Local Economic Development and Projects.




NIS PRESENTED ITSELF AT INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FAIR IN BELGRADE

 

February 24th

The traditional promotion of Nis as a city of rich heritage with numerous cultural and historical sites was held at the International Tourism Fair in Belgrade. Nis was promoted as the city that offered its guests the best cuisine, entertainment and opportunities for adventure, sport and spending time in nature. For these reasons, according to the director of Nis Tourism Organizations Mr. Uros Parlic Nis is becoming more and more popular among tourists, and from year to year the number of foreign and domestic guests is increasing. This increase in the number of tourists was almost by 20% compared to 2017. In order to continue this trend Nis has already been introduced in Moscow, Bratislava, Vienna, Ljubljana, Sofia and several other European capitals at the tourism fairs. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic visited the promotional stands of the city at the fair. On this occasion he emphasized that tourism was extremely important, not only because of the high income it brought, but also because of the image and the reputation of the city and above all because of the new jobs generated by tourism.




CITY OF NIS OFFICE FOR LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PROJECTS AS THE EXAMPLE OF FDI GOOD PRACTICE

 

February 21st

The presentation of the support programs and subsidies provided by the Development Agency of Serbia to Belgian companies operating in our country was organized by the Development Agency of Serbia, the Office for Economics and Trade of the Embassy of Belgium in Serbia and the Belgian-Serbian Business Association. At the same time, Belgian companies that are interested in starting a business in Serbia or expanding their presence and operations in our country had the opportunity to receive the necessary instructions and information. The Office for Local Economic Development and Projects of the City of Nis, as an example of good practice in attracting foreign direct investments, presented its work to the Belgian-Serbian business community and showed why Nis was declared the champion of local economic development and the winner of the prestigious Financial Times award. The Head of the Office for Local Economic Development and Projects of the City of Nis Milan Randjelovic, stressed at today’s meeting what the advantages of Nis and the region were that attracted investors to this part of Serbia, such as geostrategic position, connection of the transport routes, airports, the existence of the University, skilled labor, but also the willingness of the local self-government to solve quickly and efficiently the problems that potential investors could encounter. He pointed out that the Office for Local Economic Development and Projects monitored the realization of every investment, from the first initial contact, to the opening of factories and that its employees represented the link between investors and other institutions. Ranđelović stressed that this kind of work has yielded results and that the unemployment rate in Nis has been drastically reduced. Also, the capacities of OLEDP are significantly strengthened in relation to the period of 10 years ago when this office was created, so today it is much easier to work with a large number of investors who came to our city and who are planning to operate in Nis. The head of OLEDP thanked the Development Agency of Serbia for the significant support provided to the City of Nis during all years of cooperation and stressed that he hoped that the important investments for Nis and its citizens jointly implemented by OLEDP and RAS were yet to come.