The Mayor of Novi Sad Miloš Vučević met the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden H.E.  Jan Lundin at the City Hall. They discussed economic cooperation and the traditionally good relations between the two countries, as well as the current situation with the Covid 19 virus. On that occasion, the importance of a dozen socially responsible Swedish companies operating in Serbia was emphasized, which will provide support in the realization of the "Pippi Playground" project. Namely, setting up a children's playground in Novi Sad, the so-called "Pippi Playground" is planned on the occasion of the 75th birthday of Pippi Longstocking, which is being marked this year, and it is the character of the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren. The Mayor and the Ambassador then visited the branch of the City Library in the local community of Šangaj in Novi Sad , for which the company "IKEA" donated furniture on the initiative of the Swedish Institute, and in cooperation with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden.

- I would like to thank everyone who have been participating in the realization of the joint plans of the City of Novi Sad and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden. Thanks to the Swedish company "IKEA", the children's library in Šangaj has been improved, so that from today, children from this part of the City are going to have a nicely equipped library and a wonderful corner where they can spend quality time, educate and socialize with great employees of the City Library. We continue to cooperate in other fields as well, so we have planned the opening of "Pippi Playground" in spring, whose context is much broader than the narrative of a story for children, because it is a symbol of children's rights and the fight against violence against children. We are very proud that, at the suggestion of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden, we were chosen to be one of the three cities in the world that will have such a playground. It will be located near the Patrijarha Pavla Boulevard , in a very representative location -  Mayor Vučević said and thanked all the companies from Sweden that will participate in that project.

He added that part of the meeting with the Ambassador was dedicated to the online conference of the City's representatives with the representatives of Swedish companies in Serbia, which was organized this year through the "Zoom" application due to the situation with the pandemic.

- If we are successful in the fight against the coronavirus, I hope that soon economic issues will be in focus again. We have a good indicator that the trade exchange between companies from Novi Sad, i.e. Vojvodina, and the Kingdom of Sweden is on the rise, and that it is even higher than last year in the same period, probably thanks to the arrival of factories in our city - the Mayor emphasized.

Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden H. E. Jan Lundin expressed his satisfaction that a corner was created in Novi Sad based on the Swedish model of equipping libraries for children.

- We hope that it will be useful for children living in this part of the City. Thanks to the company "IKEA", which was our main partner and which supplied the equipment for this Swedish corner. I have fond memories of a similar library in my hometown in Sweden, and I hope that the children from here will create fond memories - said the Ambassador and thanked everyone for the excellent cooperation.

The related  company provided shelves for books, armchairs, chairs, pillows, lamps, Swedish toys, teaching aids, and the Swedish embassy donated a contingent of books for children. The City organization of the Red Cross joined the action of equipping the children's department of the library in Šangaj by donating six computer desks and 12 chairs, and through stamps collected during the traditional event of "Children's Week", financial resources were provided to help equip the library.