Ambassador Welcomes Nis into USAID's MEGA Program

September 23, 2008

Ambassador Munter (lef) witnesses the signing of an MoU between USAID’s MEGA Program and Nis Mayor Milos Simonovic (FoNet Photo)

On Wednesday, September 24, 2008, U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter will visit Nis to witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between USAID’s Municipal Economic Growth Activity (MEGA) Program and the Mayor of the City of Niš Miloš Simonović at Niš City Hall. The United States will support the City of Niš to create a more favorable business environment by strengthening the City's organizational capacity to undertake activities related to local economic development.

Earlier in September, eight new municipalities - Sombor, Pirot, Zaječar, Sremska Mitrovica, Valjevo, Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac - joined the MEGA Program. By the end of October, Niš, Novi Sad and Novi Pazar will have joined these eight municipalities. They will receive full USAID MEGA assistance in the areas of local economic development (LED), marketing and promotion, municipal capacity building and grants.

The American people, through USAID's Municipal Economic Growth Activity Program, will provide technical assistance in the form of; trainings and on-the-job coaching; the creation of a database of available land for investors (greenfield, brownfield and construction sites); assistance to the city’s leadership to better capitalize on existing human and financial capacities; and,improvement of the local government's capacity to negotiate with companies interested in public-private partnerships.

Municipalities already working with the MEGA Program have achieved considerable successes thus far: 350 million Euros of direct investments realized in 2006 and 2007; approx. 6,000 new jobs created and 270 new businesses established.

The signing of the MoU with the City of Niš demonstrates the strong commitment and will of the American people to assist Serbia in its efforts to improve the investor friendly environment and overall quality of life for all citizens.

Journalists interested in covering the event are kindly invited to be at the Niš City Hall, 7. Jula 2 in Niš, on September 24, at 12:00 p.m.

For more information on the MEGA Program, please contact: Natasa Ristic, natasa_ristic@ui-serbia.org . For more information about USAID programs please, visit: http://serbia.usaid.gov.