Trinidad and Tobago:
Trinidad and Tobago has earned a reputation as
an excellent investment site for international businesses.
Successful economic reforms were implemented in 1995, and foreign
investment and trade are flourishing. Persistently high unemployment
remains one of the chief challenges of the government. The
petrochemical sector has spurred growth in other related sectors,
reinforcing the government's commitment to economic diversification.
Tourism is growing, especially in the pleasure boat sector. New
investment and construction also will continue to drive the economy.
Tromelin Island:
no economic activity
Tunisia:
Tunisia has a diverse economy, with important agricultural,
mining, energy, tourism, and manufacturing sectors. Governmental
control of economic affairs while still heavy has gradually lessened
over the past decade with increasing privatization, simplification
of the tax structure, and a prudent approach to debt. Real growth
averaged 5.5% in the past four years, and inflation is slowing.
Growth in tourism and increased trade have been key elements in this
steady growth. Tunisia's association agreement with the European
Union entered into force on 1 March 1998, the first such accord
between the EU and Mediterranean countries to be activated. Under
the agreement Tunisia will gradually remove barriers to trade with
the EU over the next decade. Broader privatization, further
liberalization of the investment code to increase foreign
investment, and improvements in government efficiency are among the
challenges for the future.
Turkey:
Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry
and commerce along with traditional agriculture that still accounts
for nearly 40% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing
private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in basic
industry, banking, transport, and communication. The most important
industry - and largest exporter - is textiles and clothing, which is
almost entirely in private hands. In recent years the economic
situation has been marked by erratic economic growth and serious
imbalances. Real GNP growth has exceeded 6% in most years, but this
strong expansion was interrupted by sharp declines in output in 1994
and 1999. Meanwhile the public sector fiscal deficit has regularly
exceeded 10% of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of
interest payments, which now account for more than 40% of central
government spending - while inflation has remained in the high
double digit range. Perhaps because of these problems, foreign
direct investment in Turkey remains low - less than $1 billion
annually. Prospects for the future are improving, however, because
the ECEVIT government since June 1999 has been implementing an
IMF-backed reform program, including a tighter budget, social
security reform, banking reorganization, and accelerated
privatization. As a result, the fiscal situation is greatly improved
and inflation has dropped below 40% - the lowest rate since 1987.
The country experienced a financial crisis in late 2000, including
sharp drops in the stock market and foreign exchange reserves, but
is recovering rapidly, thanks to additional IMF support and the
government's commitment to a specific timetable of economic reforms.
Turkmenistan:
Turkmenistan is largely desert country with intensive
agriculture in irrigated oases and huge gas (fifth largest reserves
in the world) and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is
planted in cotton, making it the world's tenth largest producer.
Until the end of 1993, Turkmenistan had experienced less economic
disruption than other former Soviet states because its economy
received a boost from higher prices for oil and gas and a sharp
increase in hard currency earnings. In 1994, Russia's refusal to
export Turkmen gas to hard currency markets and mounting debts of
its major customers in the former USSR for gas deliveries
contributed to a sharp fall in industrial production and caused the
budget to shift from a surplus to a slight deficit. With an
authoritarian ex-communist regime in power and a tribally based
social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to
economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its
inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. In
1998-2000, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate
export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive
short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports
rose sharply because of higher international oil and gas prices.
Prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread
internal poverty and the burden of foreign debt. IMF assistance
would seem to be necessary, yet the government is not as yet ready
to accept IMF requirements. Turkmenistan's 1999 deal to ship 20
billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas through Russia's Gazprom
pipeline helped alleviate the 2000 fiscal shortfall. Inadequate
fiscal restraint and the tenuous nature of Turkmenistan's 2001 gas
deals, combined with a lack of economic reform, will limit progress
in the near term.
Turks and Caicos Islands:
The Turks and Caicos economy is based on
tourism, fishing, and offshore financial services. Most capital
goods and food for domestic consumption are imported. The US was the
leading source of tourists in 1996, accounting for more than half of
the 87,000 visitors; tourist arrivals had risen to 93,000 by 1998.
Major sources of government revenue include fees from offshore
financial activities and customs receipts.
Tuvalu:
Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of
nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral
resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the
primary economic activities. Government revenues largely come from
the sale of stamps and coins and worker remittances. About 1,000
Tuvaluans work in Nauru in the phosphate mining industry. Nauru has
begun repatriating Tuvaluans, however, as phosphate resources
decline. Substantial income is received annually from an
international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and
the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise
investments and conservative withdrawals, this Fund has grown from
an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US
government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu, with 1999
payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries at about $9 million, a
total which is expected to rise annually. In an effort to reduce its
dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector
reforms, including privatization of some government functions and
personnel cuts of up to 7%. In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue
from use of its area code for "900" lines and in 2000, from the sale
of its ".tv" Internet domain name. Royalties from these new
technology sources could raise GDP three or more times over the next
decade. In 1999, with merchandise exports falling and financing
reaching less than 5% of imports, continued reliance was placed on
fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from
overseas workers, official transfers, and investment income from
overseas assets to cover the trade deficit.
Uganda:
Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile
soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and
cobalt. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy,
employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee is the major export
crop and accounts for the bulk of export revenues. Since 1986, the
government - with the support of foreign countries and international
agencies - has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by
undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export
crops, increasing prices of petroleum products, and improving civil
service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening
inflation and boosting production and export earnings. In 1990-2000,
the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued
investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved
incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually
improved domestic security, and the return of exiled Indian-Ugandan
entrepreneurs. Ongoing Ugandan involvement in the war in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, corruption within the government,
and slippage in the government's determination to press reforms
raise doubts about the continuation of strong growth. In 2000,
Uganda qualified for enhanced HIPC debt relief worth $1.3 billion
and Paris Club debt relief worth $145 million. These amounts
combined with the original Highly Indebted Poor Countries HIPC debt
relief add up to about $2 billion. Growth for 2001 should be
somewhat lower than in 2000, because of a decline in the price of
coffee, Uganda's principal export.
Ukraine:
After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the
most important economic component of the former Soviet Union,
producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic.
Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet
agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities
of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise,
its diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for
example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and
mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the
former USSR. Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially
natural gas, to meet some 85% of its annual energy requirements.
Shortly after independence in late 1991, the Ukrainian Government
liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for
privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within the
government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led
to some backtracking. Output in 1992-99 fell to less than 40% the
1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to
hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Ukraine's dependence on
Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural
reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external
shocks. Now in his second term, President KUCHMA has pledged to
reduce the number of government agencies and streamline the
regulation process, create a legal environment to encourage
entrepreneurs and protect ownership rights, and enact a
comprehensive tax overhaul. Reforms in the more politically
sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatization are
still lagging. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF - have
encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms and have
threatened to withdraw financial support. GDP in 2000 showed strong
export-based growth of 6% - the first growth since independence -
and industrial production grew 12.9%. As the capacity for further
export-based economic expansion diminishes, GDP growth in 2001 is
likely to decline to around 3%.
United Arab Emirates:
The UAE has an open economy with a high per
capita income and a sizable annual trade surplus. Its wealth is
based on oil and gas output (about 33% of GDP), and the fortunes of
the economy fluctuate with the prices of those commodities. Since
1973, the UAE has undergone a profound transformation from an
impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state
with a high standard of living. At present levels of production, oil
and gas reserves should last for more than 100 years. Despite higher
oil revenues in 1999-2000, the government has not drawn back from
the economic reforms implemented during the 1998 oil price
depression. The government has increased spending on job creation
and infrastructure expansion and is opening up its utilities to
greater private-sector involvement.