Mayor of western Serbian city of Valjevo Zoran Jakovljevic and Mayor of Slovenian city of Velenje Bojan Kontic signed on Thursday the protocol on cooperation in the domains of industry, mining, culture, education, sports and other areas.

The two cities have been cooperating for some ten years now and their ties intensified especially since Gorenje company from Velenje built a factory of cooling devices in Valjevo and thus opened jobs for over 600 citizens of Valjevo.

The two cities share many similarities in various aspects and this is why our cooperation is not in its early beginnings but has been in existence for a series of years now, and it should continue to expand and progress after the signing of the agreement, Kontic told reporters.

When asked whether some tangible projects were discussed during the three-day visit of the Velenje delegation to Valjevo, Drago Bahum of the Gorenje management board said that the company will hold on to its Valjevo factory but that in the development of the industrial giant, competent bodies also need to take into account the successful development of other

Gorenje factories, including the plant in Stara Pazova (some 30 kilometres on the north-west from Belgrade), Zajecar (eastern Serbia), the Czech Republic, Scandinavia, as well as in Velenje and Valjevo.

Gorenje has tangible programmes for further investments in Valjevo, Bahum said.