former USSR/Eastern Europe (former USSR/EE): the middle group in the hierarchy of developed countries (DCs), former USSR/Eastern Europe (former USSR/EE), and less developed countries (LDCs); these countries are in political and economic transition and may well be grouped differently in the near future; this group of 27 countries consists of: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Yugoslavia; this group is identical to the IMF group "countries in transition" except for the IMF's inclusion of Mongolia
Four Dragons: the four small Asian less developed countries (LDCs) that have experienced unusually rapid economic growth; also known as the Four Tigers; this group consists of Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan; these countries are included in the IMF's "advanced economies" group
Franc Zone (FZ): note - also known as Conference des Ministres des
Finances des Pays de la Zone Franc
established - 1964
aim - to form a monetary union among countries whose currencies were linked to the French franc
members - (16) Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo
Front Line States (FLS): established to achieve black majority rule in
South Africa; has since gone out of existence; members included Angola,
Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT): see the World Trade
Organization (WTO)
General Confederation of Trade Unions (GCTU): established - 16 April 1992
aim - to consolidate trade union actions to protect citizens' social and labor rights and interests, to help secure trade unions' rights and guarantees, and to strengthen international trade union solidarity