Introducing

WELCOME TO NIŠ, CITY OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES!

City of Niš is among the oldest cities in the Balkans. With almost 300.000 citizens, it is the third largest city in Serbia. It belongs to the group of developed Serbian cities and it is industrial and touristic center of national importance.

City of Niš is an ideal investment destination due to many reasons. One of them is its geographical position. Niš is lоcated at crossroads of Balkan and European highways, on corridor X, connecting Europe to Middle East. Since the ancient times, it has been considered as a gateway between the East and the West. As a traffic hub of the most important Balkan and European traffic roads and railway routes, with international airport Constantine the Great, it is easily accessible from all directions. It is a modern university city with 13 faculties and 30,000 students and at the same time natural, social, economic, educational, health, cultural and sports center of South-East Serbia.

The distinctive advantage of the City of Niš represents an unambiguous support of local self-government to the investors and business community as well as available, equipped city owned Greenfeld and Brownfield sites. Investors have at their disposal local self-government with experience and know how in FDI projects. City of Niš can provide land free of charge (depends of number of employees and the investment value) and improvement of existing infrastructure (based on investors requirements).

Economy

City of Nis was one of the biggest electronic, mechanic and textile industrial centres in former Yugoslavia.

Today, determined industrial sectors with highest development potential are electronics, mechanical engineering, IT, automotive (suppliers), logistics, food processing and textile. Developed resources in the field of electronic, mechanic and IT field, have position City of Niš as regional center of  advanced technologies.Since 2010, Nis won several foreign industrial investment projects wort more than €100 milion which generate more than 12,000 new jobs.

Main foreign investors are PHILIP MORIS INTERNATIONAL, YURA Corporation, SHINWON – YURA Eltech,  BENETTON Group, HARDER  DIGITAL, LMB Soft, JOHNSON ELECTRIC, MIKKELSEN ELECTRONICS,  ASTER TEXTILE, LEONI and more.

City of Niš supports new trends in business networking and strongly believes that establishment and development of professional clusters should be priority in local government planning. Some of 28 small and medium enterprises, dealing with the production of electronic and electro mechanic devices as well as with information and communication technologies, two scientific research institutions, and three economic development institutions, formed advanced technologies cluster Ni-CAT. NiCat started with operative work in 2011.

Industrial zones

There are 3 main industrial zones owned by the City of Niš and all of them  are equipped with all necessary infrastructure - water, sewerage, gas and electricity and have easy access to traffic infrastructure. 

Infrastructure

Region and City of Niš represent the crossroad of two most important corridors in this part of Europe. One of them, known as E75, connects Central and Western Europe with Greece and Macedonia, whereas the other, highway E80, leads to the East toward Sofia and Istanbul and further to Middle East.  Highway E75, that leads to Belgrade and Athens, lies only 2,5 km to the North, and can easily be accessed from both directions of the regional freeway R214.  City of Niš is, with Belgrade, main Serbian rail junction,  with 5 railway lines.

As a logistics base City of Niš is  the perfect place for a company to locate its business in order to serve EU, SEE and Middle Eastern clients more efficiently and to enjoy benefits of working outside the EU, while being able to provide services and transport goods in planned and flexible time frames.

Air traffic is carried out through the airport Constantin the Great, the second passenger and cargo airport in Serbia. The airport is situated in a zone that has very favorable weather conditions all year round, with very few foggy and snowy days, and generates enormous investment potential of the City of Niš. As the catchment area of the City of Niš Airport has been increased this resulted in the arrival of new companies, including low-cost company  such is Wizz Air, today  having  flights to Basel and Malme. It is realistic to expect a larger inflow of passengers from neighboring areas owing to the quick and efficient road and railway access to the Airport and excellent traffic connections. In terms of water traffic Niš is connected with the Corridor 7 and the Danube River, as well as with the Smederevo Port, by the highway and the railway in the length of around 200 km, and to the Aegean Sea (that is, the port Thessaloniki by the highway and the railway in the length of 400 km).

Labour Market

Skilled workforce, iIndustrial tradition and lower labor costs compared with the largest number of EU countries are the main comparative advantage of Serbia on the global market.

Based on the age structure of available human resources it can be concluded that the work field of the National Employment Service Nis area is suitable for the development of both light  and labor-intensive industries and high-technology industries and entrepreneurship based on information technologies.

Education

A quality of intellectual capital in region of Niš is based on an education system which creates highly educated people in almost all areas, but especially in the areas of technical sciences and computer technologies. Among 19 secondary school network, there are five technical schools (electronics, ICT and mechanical engineering), as well as the school of economics, school of commerce, etc.

In the past 10 years, approximately 3,000 students per year graduated from elementary schools, approximately 4,000 from high schools and approximately 1,500 students graduate from the University of Niš, which is the second biggest university in Serbia.

With its geographical position and size, developed industry and long electronic and mechanic history, Niš was eligible to become an electronic center. From the moment when the first graduated student of electronic received his diploma till today, 5,509 candidates obtained diplomas of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering in Niš, 516 defended master theses, and 187 candidates defended doctor theses.

Culture and Tourist Atractions

Another important economic sector in both the City of Niš and Nišava district is tourism. Very rich cultural and historical heritages as well as natural resources give excellent possibilities for its development. Namely, resort tourism has a very long tradition in this area, since the discovery of mineral springs by the Romans. There are several famous resorts in the District of Niš: Niska Banja (Spa of Niš), Prolom Banja Spa, Lukovska Banja Spa and others. There are many cultural, historical and religious monuments attractive to tourists such as the Roman complex Mediana, the Turkish Fortress on the Nišava River and the Skull Tower.

Vicinity of Niš  is excelent oasis of adventure, health and recreation. There are exceptional  Sićevo Gorge, Jelasnica Gorge, Bojanine vode and  Cerje Cave  and number of spa in the City vicinity. It is also known for its capacities for extreme sports  like  paragliding, shooting rally and  free climbing.

Many visitors will confirm the fact that City of Niš has world known kitchen and is also known for its  hospitability and friendly people.

One more famous Niš cultural, touristic and economic treasure is  FLAVIUS VALERIUS CONSTANTINUS, later great Roman Emperor, the protector of Christianity, a great warrior and statesman who  was born in Niš. Constantine the Great signed the Edict of Milan in 313 and made Christianity equal to other religions in the Roman Empire. 

 

More information here.