The creation of the Serbian-Israeli Chamber of Commerce is adding a permanent private-sector structure to an economic relationship that has expanded rapidly in recent years. Established in Jerusalem and formally launched on 29 April 2026, the chamber brings together Israeli companies operating in Serbia and Serbian businesses active in Israel as the two countries continue negotiations on a free-trade agreement.
- Bilateral trade expands beyond traditional markets
- Food exporters face certification and market-access requirements
- Technology provides a second area for cooperation
- EXPO 2027 creates an additional business channel
- Free-trade negotiations remain under way
- Tourism adds another layer to bilateral economic activity
- Geographic and geopolitical factors remain relevant
- Investment could deepen the relationship
- Chamber targets smaller companies as trade expands
- Trade growth remains modest in absolute terms
The organisation was launched as bilateral commerce was accelerating. Serbian exports to Israel reached $249.7 million in 2025, up 70.9% year on year, while imports increased 33.6% to $74.1 million. Total goods trade consequently reached approximately $323.8 million, leaving Serbia with a bilateral surplus of about $175.6 million. Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić attended the inaugural meeting in Jerusalem. One of the chamber’s founders, Gili Dekel, represents a company that has operated in Serbia for more than two decades, providing the new organisation with a base of companies that already have experience in the two markets.
Bilateral trade expands beyond traditional markets
Israel became Serbia’s largest export market in the Middle East and third-largest export destination outside Europe, according to the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. The absolute value remains considerably below Serbia’s trade with Germany, Italy, China and neighbouring European economies, but the pace of expansion has been substantially faster. Bilateral trade has increased several times within a few years, moving Israel from a relatively peripheral destination into a more significant non-European market for Serbian exporters.
The development also provides Serbia with additional export-market diversification. Most Serbian merchandise exports remain concentrated in the European Union, where domestic manufacturers are integrated into German, Italian and Central European supply chains. The Israeli market gives Serbian companies access to a high-income economy outside their principal European commercial geography.
The composition of exports is also becoming broader. Serbian products sold in Israel include processed tobacco, gas turbines, transmission equipment, automotive tyres, flavoured beverages, animal feed, cleaning products and food products. During 2025, approximately 95 new Serbian export products entered the Israeli market, with food and agricultural goods accounting for a significant share of the expansion.
Food exporters face certification and market-access requirements
Agriculture and food processing represent areas with additional scope for bilateral commerce. Serbia has a substantial agricultural and food-processing base, while Israeli demand provides access to a high-income food-importing market with established retail channels and demanding product requirements. Serbian companies operate across fruit processing, confectionery, beverages, meat products and animal nutrition, among other areas. Their ability to expand in Israel depends not only on price competitiveness but also on meeting regulatory and certification requirements. Exporters must address Israeli sanitary and phytosanitary rules, origin requirements and import quotas. For many food categories, kosher certification is also an important commercial consideration.
The Serbian Chamber of Commerce has been involved in technical market-access discussions alongside the broader free-trade negotiations, including issues surrounding approved-country-of-origin procedures. Israel has already unilaterally removed or suspended certain customs duties until 31 May 2028, while a wider bilateral agreement would establish a broader framework for trade between the two countries.
For smaller Serbian companies, those technical requirements can represent a significant market-entry cost. A medium-sized food producer entering Israel may need to find an importer and distributor, adapt packaging and labelling, understand certification rules, determine kosher requirements and assess the impact of tariffs and quotas on its final selling price. The new chamber provides a potential institutional channel for connecting companies with distributors, banks, accountants, lawyers, certification specialists and potential joint-venture partners. Its practical role will therefore be closely linked to the ability of companies to move from initial market contacts to commercial agreements.
Technology provides a second area for cooperation
The bilateral relationship extends beyond merchandise exports, with Israeli strengths concentrated in technology-intensive sectors including software, cybersecurity, digital health, agricultural technology, water management, advanced manufacturing and innovation-driven services. Serbia has spent more than a decade developing its position as a regional technology and engineering location, supported by universities, comparatively lower labour costs than Western Europe and a growing domestic start-up ecosystem.
The combination creates opportunities for cooperation beyond conventional trade.
Israeli intellectual property, technology and international business networks can be combined with Serbian engineering capabilities, manufacturing capacity and access to European supply chains. An Israeli technology company using Serbia as a software-development or engineering base could generate high-value employment and knowledge transfer. Serbian manufacturers using Israeli automation, agricultural technology or water-management systems could increase productivity and potentially develop products for additional markets.
Joint projects could therefore generate a different economic impact from simple import and export transactions. The chamber is also positioned alongside the strategic dialogue between Serbia and Israel launched in Jerusalem in April 2026. Economic cooperation was an important element of that process, while Israeli participation in EXPO 2027 Belgrade has also been confirmed.
EXPO 2027 creates an additional business channel
Israel’s participation in EXPO 2027 provides a further platform for contact between Serbian and Israeli companies, investors, institutions and technology providers. The exhibition does not itself determine the volume of bilateral trade, but it creates an opportunity for businesses and public institutions from the two countries to establish contacts in Serbia rather than relying entirely on separate international business missions. For Israeli companies, the event also provides exposure to Serbia and the wider Western Balkan market.
Serbia’s geographic position and its links with EU-oriented manufacturing chains and neighbouring Western Balkan markets add to that potential. Israeli businesses examining Southeast Europe can view Serbia both as a domestic market and as a possible regional operating location. The commercial proposition could become stronger if Serbia and Israel complete their proposed free-trade agreement.
Free-trade negotiations remain under way
Negotiations between Serbia and Israel continued during 2026, with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce participating in consultations concerning sector priorities, certification, quotas and market-access barriers. Both governments have expressed political support for an agreement, but negotiations remain ongoing.
The existing trade balance provides an important commercial context. Serbia exported $249.7 million of goods to Israel in 2025 compared with $74.1 million of imports, producing a bilateral surplus of approximately $175.6 million. Removing remaining tariff and regulatory barriers could therefore reinforce an export relationship in which Serbian companies have already demonstrated strong market growth.
The greatest incremental effect of a trade agreement could come from transactions that are currently too costly or complicated to pursue. For a Serbian producer, eliminating a tariff or simplifying certification could make smaller export orders economically viable and allow companies that currently do not serve Israel to enter the market. That could broaden the number of Serbian exporters rather than simply increasing shipments from companies already established in Israel.
Tourism adds another layer to bilateral economic activity
The commercial relationship is also expanding through tourism. Israeli visitors generated almost 109,000 overnight stays in Serbia during 2025, an increase of 50.2% from the previous year. Israeli travellers consequently became one of Serbia’s largest non-European tourism markets. Direct air connectivity between Belgrade and Tel Aviv has supported those flows, although regional security conditions can affect aviation schedules and travel demand.
Israeli visitors are also travelling beyond Belgrade, including to Zlatibor, Divčibare, Vrnjačka Banja and Novi Bečej. That broadens the economic impact to accommodation, restaurants, transport, sports facilities and other tourism-related services in different parts of Serbia. Tourism and business travel can also strengthen commercial networks by increasing direct contact between companies, investors and institutions in the two countries.
Geographic and geopolitical factors remain relevant
The expansion of bilateral commerce does not remove the practical constraints associated with the two markets. Israel’s regional geopolitical environment can affect aviation, freight routes, insurance costs, tourism flows and business confidence. Serbian companies therefore face a different logistics and risk environment in Israel from neighbouring EU markets. Distance also affects physical trade. Serbian manufacturers can supply Hungary or Croatia by road with comparatively straightforward logistics, whereas most shipments to Israel require maritime or air transport, increasing costs and complexity.
For agricultural exporters, sanitary and phytosanitary requirements can be as significant as customs duties. For technology companies, intellectual-property arrangements, data requirements and commercial contracts become more important. A free-trade agreement could reduce some barriers but would not eliminate geographical or geopolitical risks.
Investment could deepen the relationship
The growth in merchandise trade is creating a basis for a broader investment relationship. Israel has particular strengths in technology, advanced agriculture, healthcare, water systems, manufacturing and innovation. Serbia offers engineering capabilities, a comparatively lower-cost operating base and integration with European production chains.
The potential combination extends beyond Israeli companies selling products in Serbia. Israeli businesses could establish technology and engineering operations in the country, while Serbian manufacturers could incorporate Israeli technologies into products intended for European and other international markets. This would potentially generate greater domestic value than a relationship based solely on Serbian goods exports.
The distinction is important for Serbia’s wider export strategy, which increasingly seeks to move beyond lower-value manufacturing towards branded food, specialised engineering, technology services and products with greater intellectual-property content. The Israeli market can support that transition, but its high consumer purchasing power is accompanied by demanding regulatory and competitive requirements. Companies that establish themselves successfully in Israel can also develop experience relevant to other advanced markets.
Chamber targets smaller companies as trade expands
The new chamber could be particularly relevant to small and medium-sized enterprises, which generally have fewer resources than large multinational corporations for overseas market research, regulatory compliance and permanent business development. Large companies can maintain dedicated teams for legal, commercial and regulatory work in foreign markets. Smaller Serbian businesses are more dependent on trusted distributors, advisers and institutional contacts.
A permanent bilateral business organisation can reduce some of those transaction costs by providing access to established networks. The institutional framework between the two countries is also becoming broader. Serbia maintains a Chamber of Commerce representation in Jerusalem, the governments have established strategic dialogue, free-trade negotiations are under way, Israel has confirmed its participation in EXPO 2027, and the bilateral chamber now adds a private-sector structure to those existing relationships.
Trade growth remains modest in absolute terms
The scale of bilateral trade remains relatively small compared with Serbia’s overall merchandise trade, but its growth rate has changed the commercial significance of the relationship. In 2025, Serbian exports to Israel rose more than 70%, reaching almost $250 million, while imports increased by one-third. Total goods trade exceeded $320 million, while approximately 95 new Serbian export products entered the Israeli market.
At the same time, Israeli tourist overnight stays in Serbia increased by more than 50%. The combination of rising goods exports, broader product coverage, tourism growth, strategic dialogue, EXPO participation and ongoing free-trade negotiations gives the newly established Serbian-Israeli Chamber of Commerce a commercial role beyond its institutional launch.
For Serbia, the immediate export opportunity lies in maintaining growth across food, agricultural products, machinery, industrial equipment and consumer goods. The longer-term business relationship also encompasses Israeli technology, investment, engineering, joint ventures and access to international commercial networks. The chamber was created as bilateral commerce was already expanding rapidly. Its effectiveness will increasingly depend on whether that growth can be converted into a broader base of Serbian exporters, Israeli investors, technology partnerships and joint commercial projects.
