Country Listing

Yugoslavia Table of Contents

Yugoslavia

FOREIGN TRADE

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Figure 11. Transportation and Pipeline System, 1990

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Mostar loop, part of the Belgrade highway system
Courtesy Yugoslav National Tourist Office, New York

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Beach at Dubrovnik, one of Yugoslavia's major tourist areas
Courtesy World Bank (Hilda Bijur)

Unlike other East European countries, Yugoslavia had no centralized foreign trade plan, nor was it controlled by a central foreign trade ministry or a small number of state trading organizations. Although the government encouraged production for export, enterprises themselves took part in making trade policy. The Associated Labor Act of 1976 established self-managed communities of interest for foreign economic relations in each republic and province; those organizations determined what goods their jurisdiction should import. The communities of interest included representatives of local basic organizations of associated labor, banks, and other organizations involved in trade. Their principal missions were to maximize export profits and to limit imports to comply with the federal deficit ceiling.

Data as of December 1990