Mayor of Novi Sad Miloš Vučević met the members of the Novi Sad Chamber of Commerce at the booth of the City during the International Investment Fair "Investexpo" and discussed with them the investment projects and economic development potentials. Public Company "City Construction and Development", responsible for managing the city land, and the Local Economic Development Office, in charge of promoting the City’s investment potentials, are jointly presenting the investment potentials of the City of Novi Sad at the investment fair.

-We have made a lot of effort to get Novi Sad off the ground and improve the inherited state as much as possible, and currently we are the witnesses of a much more serious political approach to attracting investments to our city. The City is nurturing good cooperation with the existing investors, whilst also investing in infrastructural projects such as the fourth section of the Europe Boulevard from Rumenački put to the E-75 Highway, extension of the Bate Brkića Street, construction of sewage for all households, operations regarding the construction of the new road-rail bridge over the Danube, access to Novi Sad via the Sentandrejski Road, and much more. At the fair the City is also promoting available sites in the City ownership which are ready to be sold – work zones North 1 and North 2, as well as other available locations. In addition, the City is intensively working on the development of the Rimski Šančevi Work Zone, where the construction of the business, industrial and crafts center with production halls and storage facilities has started. The main project for the construction of the multifunctional hall of 5,000 m² in Rimski šančevi is in the finishing phase, which will be a direct support to the existing SMEs on one side and start-ups on the other, since they will be able to lease the premises under favorable conditions and start their businesses. In addition to the Italian company investment which is planning business activities in the Rimski Šančevi Work Zone, as well as the start of a factory construction in Budisava that will employ dozens of workers, followed by the signing of  the Agreement with the Austrian company and talks with Chinese businessmen from private companies, we can also say that negotiations with the Lidl Company are in the course and that this Company has already bought several locations in the city - Mayor Miloš Vučević said, adding that it is now evident that the investment climate in Novi Sad has changed significantly for the better.

During this year’s edition of the fair, the City of Novi Sad is promoting available locations in the City ownership ready for sale, and in that respect, new incentives which are offered to investors are also presented. More specifically, at the initiative of the City of Novi Sad, and in cooperation with national institutions, the legislation was influenced, which resulted in amendments to the Regulation on terms and conditions under which a local government may alienate or lease a construction land at a price lower than the market price, thus providing Novi Sad a competitive position in the market, while offering to investors a possibility of obtaining a construction land under equally favorable conditions, as in other cities. Likewise, based on the Decision on criteria for calculation of the land development fee, significant reduction of the land development fee is provided for investments in the manufacturing sector and information and communication technologies sector that may be subject of the international trade - up to 90% of the fee reduction for investments of over 1,000,000 euros, employing more than 50 people, and 50%  of the fee reduction for paying the whole land development fee at one go.

Moreover, the Provincial Secretariat for Interregional Cooperation and Local Self-Government and the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) awarded the first prize for the best exhibition booth at the International Investment Fair "Investexpo 2013" to the City of Novi Sad.

Novi Sad, 30^th October 2013