Second EU Projects Fair – “EU and Serbia at Work” – was held in Gallery “Srbija” in Nis and organised by EU Delegation to Serbia, in cooperation with European Integration Office, EU Info Centre and EU Info Point Nis.
Opening remarks were made by Deputy Mayor of the City of Nis Ljubivoje Slavkovic, Head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia Ambassador Michael Davenport and Assistant Director at European Integration Office Sandra Simic.
Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport said that the EU would continue to act as the main donor in Serbia and allocate billion and a half euros by 2020. Read more about it here.
The Fair included presentation of seven sectors and more than 30 different projects which the EU has financed over the past 14 years, implemented in partnership with Serbian institutions.
Presentations included projects in the areas of health, education – along with Tempus Foundation and Erasmus+ – social protection, culture, media and civil society, local development, innovation and competitiveness implemented in South Serbia. EURAXESS network, established in 2008 in Serbia, also saw its presentation. The network is part of pan-European network comprised of 260 organisations located across 40 European countries. Main goals of Serbian EURAXESS network are providing services and support to mobile researchers, promoting European principles and career development practices among researchers, as well as establishing adequate European standards in these areas. The Fair also saw the presentation of the most important projects implemented in Nis by European Investment Bank.
Since 2000, the EU has donated over EUR3 million to Serbia. Beside donations from IPA funds, EU Member States have also provided substantial bilateral assistance to Serbia. Since 2000, EU donations exceed EUR2.9 billion.
European Union is also the biggest creditor to Serbian economy. As of 2001, Serbia receives significant support from EIB which has a remarkable loan portfolio in Serbia. Since 2001, a total amount of loans signed with Serbia is EUR4.3 billion, out of which EUR2.9 have been disbursed so far.
European Union has traditionally been Serbia’s key and main trade partner, with a share of over 63 per cent in total trade over the past two years. Since 2009, Serbian exports to the EU have increased by 125.5 per cent.
The Fair was visited by numerous journalists from Nis and other Serbian towns and regions, representatives of EU Delegation, local institutions, end beneficiaries of EU assistance, representatives of CSOs and many others.
The first EU Projects Fair in Belgrade was held in mid-March 2015, also designed for media in order to get them acquainted with EU assistance. Belgrade Fair was visited by more than 100 journalists and over 200 participants from various institutions and organisations.
