This article covers trade between India and North Macedonia, the goods each exports to the other, Indian investment in North Macedonia, business visits and the economic agreements between the two countries. It is based on the MEA brief of June 2026, and the figures describe the position as of that date.

North Macedonia as a market

According to the MEA brief of June 2026, North Macedonia has held EU candidate status since December 2005 and is entitled to duty-free exports to EU member countries. The brief states that this has enhanced its attractiveness as a potential launching pad for the EU market. It lists low profit tax, low income tax and zero tax on reinvested profit among the country's features.

The brief also notes that Macedonia ranked 17th in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business list for 2020, and that it has been seeking Indian investment.

Bilateral trade

The brief describes bilateral trade as "much below the potential", attributing this to a lack of good and cheap cargo freight connections between the two countries. It gives the following figures, citing the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry (all in US$ million):

  • 2023-24: India's exports 36.64, India's imports 0.73, total 37.37
  • 2024-25: India's exports 33.73, India's imports 2.01, total 35.74
  • 2025-26: India's exports 31.17, India's imports 1.36, total 32.53

What India exports

The brief lists the main items of Indian exports to North Macedonia as:

  • organic chemicals, iron and steel, and textiles and fabrics
  • electrical machinery, mechanical machinery, and scientific and medical instruments
  • ceramic and rubber articles, and bituminous minerals
  • agricultural and forestry tractors, auto parts, pharmaceuticals, and pneumatic elevators and conveyors
  • partly or wholly stemmed pre-stripped flue-cured tobacco, coffee, sesame seeds, and single cotton yarn of combed fibres

What North Macedonia exports

The main items of North Macedonian exports to India, as the brief lists them, are ferro-alloys, marble and travertine, electrical machinery and equipment, and plastics. The brief also names machinery, ships and boats, iron and steel, mineral fuels and auto accessories.

Indian investment

The brief describes Indian investment in North Macedonia as negligible and names three cases:

  • In 2004, Arcelor Mittal took over Balkan Steel and later also bought the state-owned shares, amounting to 90% of the ownership, but later divested its share.
  • Bang & Scott DOO (Macedonia), a 100% step-down subsidiary of Bang Overseas Limited, Mumbai, was incorporated in September 2011 and is in the trading of fabrics and garment manufacturing.
  • Indus Medika laboratory, set up in Skopje in 2018 with an investment of Euro 3 million, is described as the biggest Indian investment in Macedonia. It was established by Mumbai-based Dr Sanjay Mehta and Mr Bakul Jain, and the brief calls it the first high-tech laboratory of its kind in Macedonia and the neighbouring region.

The brief gives no figure for North Macedonian investment in India.

Business visits

According to the brief, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's visit of March 2012 was intended to promote economic linkages and to showcase the investment and business opportunities in Macedonia to Indian investors. He addressed business forums in Delhi, Pune and Mumbai. In October 2012, as a follow-up, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mr. Zoran Stavreski visited India with the Ministers of Information Society and Foreign Investments and addressed business fora in 6 Indian cities.

Mr. Gruevski visited India again from 11-17 January 2015. He attended the VGS summit in Gandhinagar, where he met PM Modi on the sidelines and discussed ways to bolster business cooperation, and he met the summit's host, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel. He addressed the CII-Partnership Summit 2015 in Jaipur, presented investment opportunities at a business forum in Chennai, and addressed business fora in Kolkata. During the visit he also met Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and CII DG Chandrajit Banerjee.

Minister of State for Textiles Shri Ajay Tamta visited Macedonia from 6-8 May 2018 and met Minister of Economy Mr. Kreshnik Bekteshi. He visited a textiles cluster (Okite-Tex Macedonia) and a food processing facility (Bonum Macedonia). The meetings identified the setting up of fibre and fabric production facilities in Macedonia by Indian companies, and cooperation in skill development and waste disposal, as areas with special potential.

Business mechanisms and economic agreements

A MoU between CII and the Macedonian Industry Associations was signed during the visit of Minister of State Smt. Preneet Kaur in July 2012. In November 2017, the Balkan-India Business Association and the Macedonian Chambers of Commerce signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance bilateral trade and commerce.

When Deputy Foreign Minister Faud Hasanovic visited India in February 2004, he met the Commerce Secretary, and drafts of a Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement and a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement were exchanged. As of June 2026, the resulting BIPA of 2008 is not in operation, and India's proposed Agreement on Economic and Trade Cooperation remains under negotiation.