The impact of CEFTA agreement on the Republic of Serbia foreign trade improvement

Abstract

Free trade agreements contribute to regional development, further liberalization of foreign trade exchange and harmonization of trade rules with international standards. CEFTA, as an agreement on free trade of the countries of Southeast Europe, aims to ensure liberalization and facilitate trade conditions in the region by removing numerous barriers between member countries, while each of them implements an independent foreign trade policy. It includes very important areas such as: trade in goods and services, investments, public procurement, protection of intellectual property, etc. This agreement signifies a significant step toward enhancing cooperation and integration within the Southeast European region. However, establishing a legislative framework is just one aspect of a broader process; the utilization of opportunities depends on the efforts of signatory countries. Following the European Union, CEFTA signatory countries are critical foreign trade partners for the Republic of Serbia, consistently resulting in a positive trade balance. Sustaining this positive trend is of great importance. The aim of this paper is to point out the main aspects of this exchange, as well as to emphasize the additional efforts that must be made in order to improve the structure of trade exchange, i.e. to increase the participation of products with a higher degree of processing and added value.