BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 8. Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s official visit to Serbia reflects Tashkent’s continued efforts to translate its increasingly active foreign policy into practical economic partnerships. During the September 7–8 visit, President Mirziyoyev’s program includes talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade, as well as a bilateral business forum focused on expanding trade, investment, and joint projects in transport, mechanical engineering, light and food industries, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and information technology.
The visit also underscores the economic diplomacy pursued under President Mirziyoyev, with Uzbekistan actively diversifying its international partnerships, attracting foreign investment, and advancing toward deeper industrial cooperation. As President Mirziyoyev emphasized during a meeting with the country’s ambassadors on January 15, 2026, “Economic diplomacy is not just about negotiations. It serves to enhance human dignity by creating new jobs, raising incomes and improving living standards.”
Although bilateral trade with Serbia remains relatively modest, the strengthening political dialogue and expanding business contacts are contributing to the development of a foundation for joint ventures, new value chains, and broader access to international markets. In this context, the bilateral relationship retains considerable potential for further economic development.
Trade opens further opportunities for expansion
Despite the political rapprochement between Tashkent and Belgrade, bilateral trade remains relatively small compared with the scale of Uzbekistan's overall external commerce.
According to the Statistical Office of Serbia, as cited by Serbia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bilateral trade totaled €37.7 million (about $43.7 million) in 2025. Serbian exports to Uzbekistan amounted to €23.6 million (around $27.4 million), while imports from Uzbekistan stood at €14.1 million (approx. $16.4 million). Serbia mainly exported construction finishing materials, furniture, calcium phosphates, marble and corn, while imports from Uzbekistan primarily included cotton and beans.
This figure is particularly modest when placed against Uzbekistan's broader trade activity. The country's foreign trade turnover reached $81.2 billion in 2025, increasing 20.7% year-on-year, according to Uzbekistan's National Statistics Committee. Exports rose 24% to $33.8 billion, while imports increased 18.5% to $47.4 billion. Uzbekistan's largest trading partners in 2025 included China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Türkiye and South Korea, while European economies such as Germany and France were also among its significant partners. Serbia, therefore, remains a relatively small trading partner for Uzbekistan.
The relatively modest scale of bilateral trade also highlights the effectiveness of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s broader strategy of expanding Uzbekistan’s economic partnerships and turning stronger political relations into practical cooperation. Rather than focusing solely on increasing the volume of traditional trade, Tashkent has increasingly prioritized investment, industrial cooperation, joint ventures, and the development of new value chains. This approach creates opportunities to broaden the range of goods traded with Serbia while encouraging companies from both countries to establish direct business ties and develop production projects. In this context, the upcoming visit reflects Uzbekistan’s consistent efforts under Mirziyoyev to diversify its economic partnerships, attract foreign investment, and open new channels for Uzbek businesses in international markets. As he stated at the 5th Tashkent International Investment Forum on 17 June 2026: “For us, investment is far more than a source of capital. It is a catalyst for advanced technologies, modern knowledge and expertise, new jobs and development that keeps pace with the demands of a rapidly changing world.”
From political agreements to economic mechanisms
The groundwork for this shift was laid during Vučić's visit to Uzbekistan in October 2025.
Following talks in Tashkent, the two presidents signed a Joint Declaration and a package of intergovernmental and interagency documents. Among them were agreements on the mutual promotion and protection of investments, economic cooperation, medical services, tourism, education, science and culture, as well as cooperation in engineering, advanced technologies and artificial intelligence. The sides also signed a memorandum on labor migration and an agreement establishing partnership relations between Tashkent and Belgrade. The significance of those agreements lies in their potential to create a broader institutional framework for investment.
An investment-protection agreement, for example, can reduce some of the legal uncertainty associated with cross-border projects, while the economic cooperation agreement provides a broader framework for expanding commercial relations. Cooperation in engineering, advanced technologies and AI also moves the relationship beyond traditional commodity trade toward higher-value activities. The agreements are now being followed by more practical mechanisms.
In February 2026, Uzbekistan hosted a bilateral business forum that brought together more than 80 entrepreneurs. According to Uzbekistan's Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, discussions focused on increasing bilateral trade, removing trade and logistics barriers, strengthening business engagement, establishing a bilateral Business Council and opening trade houses in Tashkent and Belgrade. The sectors discussed included pharmaceuticals, textiles, chemicals, agriculture, construction, energy and IT. This suggests that the September summit is not an isolated diplomatic event but part of a sequence: political agreements in 2025 were followed by business-level mechanisms in 2026, with the current visit potentially providing a platform for moving those initiatives toward implementation.
Serbia offers a different type of European gateway
One of the more significant economic aspects of the relationship is Serbia's position as a regional manufacturing and trade hub. Serbian authorities have emphasized the country's broad network of trade agreements and preferential arrangements. Serbia has a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union and free-trade agreements with countries and economic blocs including China, Türkiye and the Eurasian Economic Union. Serbian officials have described this trade framework as an important factor in attracting foreign investment and expanding export opportunities. Serbia's free-trade agreement with China, for example, entered into force in July 2024. At that time, Serbia's government said 60% of goods would immediately become exempt from customs duties, with additional products scheduled for liberalization over subsequent years.
Joint production in Serbia could provide Uzbek companies with a platform closer to European markets, while Serbian companies can use Uzbekistan's industrial base, labor resources and access to Central Asian markets as a platform for regional expansion. This is particularly relevant to the sectors now being discussed by the two governments: engineering, pharmaceuticals, textiles, food processing and agriculture.
Manufacturing could become the core of the relationship
The composition of the planned projects indicates that both countries are looking for opportunities to develop production rather than simply increase the exchange of finished goods. At the Uzbekistan–Serbia business forum held in Tashkent in October 2025, more than 100 entrepreneurs participated. Uzbekistan's Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade said that nine enterprises with Serbian capital were already operating in Uzbekistan at the time.
The development of such projects could gradually alter the structure of bilateral trade. Instead of Serbia primarily exporting manufactured products and Uzbekistan supplying a relatively narrow range of commodities, joint ventures could generate two-way trade in intermediate and finished products. For Uzbekistan, this would support its broader objective of increasing the share of value-added products in exports. For Serbian companies, establishing production in Uzbekistan could provide access to a market of nearly 40 million people as well as the wider Central Asian region.
The May 2026 meeting between Mirziyoyev and Vučić on the sidelines of the World Urban Forum in Baku further underlined this direction. The presidents discussed increasing trade turnover and preparing a cooperation program covering mechanical engineering, manufacturing, chemical and electrical industries, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and tourism.
The next test is implementation
The expected signing of a substantial package of intergovernmental and interagency agreements during Mirziyoyev’s visit could give further momentum to bilateral relations, opening new avenues for investment, industrial cooperation and trade expansion. The agreements would further strengthen the foundation for turning the growing political partnership between Uzbekistan and Serbia into a dynamic and mutually beneficial economic relationship.
The trajectory so far points to growing momentum in Uzbekistan–Serbia economic relations, with the two countries moving from economic and investment agreements in 2025 to business forums, trade-house initiatives and plans for a bilateral Business Council in 2026. With bilateral trade offering significant room for expansion, stronger business ties, diversified trade and new joint projects could take economic cooperation to a new level. Mirziyoyev’s visit is expected to further accelerate this positive trend.
For Uzbekistan, Serbia could become an additional European economic partner and a platform for expanding industrial cooperation beyond its traditional markets. For Serbia, Uzbekistan offers access to one of Central Asia's largest economies and an opportunity to establish a stronger commercial presence in the region.
Against this backdrop, the main economic significance of Mirziyoyev's September visit may not be the immediate increase in bilateral trade, but the creation of conditions for a different scale and structure of cooperation. If the agreements expected in Belgrade translate into joint manufacturing, investment projects, improved logistics, and stronger business-to-business links, Uzbekistan and Serbia could begin moving from a relatively small trading relationship toward a broader investment-led economic partnership.
