Political relations
Bilateral relations between Serbia and Switzerland are good and are characterized by developed economic cooperation. A special segment of bilateral relations is the development cooperation with Switzerland, which has been successfully ongoing for more than 30 years and amounts to over 440 million Swiss francs. After the consecutive chairmanship of the OSCE in 2014/2015 political relations took on a new dimension and Serbia was marked as an important partner and link between East and West. The practice of holding regular political consultations between the ministries of foreign affairs, at the level of state secretaries, has been established between the two countries. The last consultationс were held on 4 May 2023 in Bern.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia Ana Brnabić visited Switzerland on 2 and 3 September 2019 and she had a bilateral meeting with the then president of Switzerland Maurer. President of the National Council I. More visited Serbia on 9 November 2020. and met with the President of the Republic of Serbia A. Vučić, President of the Government of the Republic of Serbia A. Brnabić and the then President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia I. Dačić.
Among important persons in the history of bilateral relations is Dr Rodolphe Archibald Reiss, professor of chemistry at the University of Lausanne, criminologist, forensic scientist, publicist, friend of Serbia during and after the First World War. He volunteered in the period 1914–1918 on the fronts with the Serbian Army. He personally engaged in the care of Serbian orphans in Switzerland and in helping the Serb people who stayed in the occupied country, and made an exceptional contribution with his papers to how Serbia is viewed at the international level.
Economic relations
The economic relations between Serbia and Switzerland can be assessed as traditionally good and diverse, since they include all aspects of economic cooperation. The free trade agreement with the EFTA states (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) enabled the duty-free export of Serbian products and new investments. Switzerland is our most important foreign trade partner within EFTA.
According to the volume of trade, Switzerland is Serbia's 26th partner, according to the amount of our exports, it is in 26th place, and according to the amount of imports, it is in 21st place. Trade with Switzerland in 2022. exceeded the value it had in 2021. and reached 786.2 million euros, which is a growth of 48.2% compared to the previous year. Exports amounted to 217.8 million euros (increase of 20.1%), and imports to 568.4 million euros (growth of 60%), with a deficit on our side of 350.6 million euros. The total value of exchangeof goods in 2021 amounted to 530.6 million euros, of which our exports were 181 million euros, and imports 349.6 million euros.
On the territory of Serbia are registered 549 active business entities, the majority of whose owners are Swiss citizens and they employ around 12 thousand workers. Among the top 20 Serbian exporters to Switzerland are companies operating within Swiss concerns such as: Mikrotec Optika Kać (Mikrop AG) Tobler-Skele (ToblerAG), Valjaonica Bakra Sevojno AD, Telsonic doo Kać (Telsonic HoldingAG), Prvi Partizan AD Užice, as well as Serbia ZIJIN Bor Cooper, while among the 20 largest importers from Switzerland are: Roche doo Belgrade (ROCHE FINANZ AG), Phoenix Pharma doo Belgrade, Zlatara Gold.
Switzerland is on the list of the biggest investors in the Serbian economy. According to data from the National Bank of Serbia, the total inflow of investments from Switzerland to Serbia in the period from 2010 to 2022 amounted to 2.16 billion euros, which ranks this country in 6th place among the largest foreign investors. With an inflow of EUR 663.8 million, Switzerland was the 1st largest foreign investor in 2021. The positive trend continued in 2022, when Switzerland with an investment inflow of 130.5 million euros was in the 11th position of the largest foreign investors.
Switzerland is also among the largest donors of development and humanitarian aid, and the value of funds placed in the last 30 years amounts to almost 440 million francs.
Bilateral agreements
There are 53 bilateral agreements in force, some of which are:
Extradition Treaty between Switzerland and Serbia (28 November 1887);
Convention on the Settlement and Consular Services between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Swiss Confederation (16 February 1888);
Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Swiss Confederation (21 November 2001)
Agreement between the Council of Ministers of Serbia and Montenegro and the Swiss Federal Council on the Avoidance of Double Taxation with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital (13 April 2005),
Agreement between Serbia and Montenegro and the Swiss Confederation on Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments (7 December 2005).
Contact information
The Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Bern (Switzerland): http://www.berne.mfa.gov.rs/.
The Embassy of Switzerland in Belgrade (Serbia): http://www.eda.admin.ch/belgrade.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia – Department for Europe: tel. 00 381 (0) 11 30 68 326, e-mail: oev@mfa.rs.