Cambodia
From 2001 to 2004, the economy grew at an average rate of
6.4%, driven largely by an expansion in the garment sector and
tourism. The US and Cambodia signed a Bilateral Textile Agreement,
which gave Cambodia a guaranteed quota of US textile imports and
established a bonus for improving working conditions and enforcing
Cambodian labor laws and international labor standards in the
industry. With the January 2005 expiration of a WTO Agreement on
Textiles and Clothing, Cambodia-based textile producers were forced
to compete directly with lower-priced producing countries such as
China and India. Better-than-expected garment sector performance led
to more than 9% growth in 2007. Its vibrant garment industry employs
more than 350,000 people and contributes more than 70% of Cambodia's
exports. The Cambodian government has committed itself to a policy
supporting high labor standards in an attempt to maintain buyer
interest. In 2005, exploitable oil and natural gas deposits were
found beneath Cambodia's territorial waters, representing a new
revenue stream for the government if commercial extraction begins.
Mining also is attracting significant investor interest,
particularly in the northeastern parts of the country, and the
government has said opportunities exist for mining bauxite, gold,
iron and gems. In 2006, a US-Cambodia bilateral Trade and Investment
Framework Agreement (TIFA) was signed and the first round of
discussions took place in early 2007. The tourism industry continues
to grow rapidly, with foreign arrivals reaching 2 million in 2007.
In 2007 the government signed a joint venture agreement with two
companies to form a new national airline. The long-term development
of the economy remains a daunting challenge. The Cambodian
government is working with bilateral and multilateral donors,
including the World Bank and IMF, to address the country's many
pressing needs. The major economic challenge for Cambodia over the
next decade will be fashioning an economic environment in which the
private sector can create enough jobs to handle Cambodia's
demographic imbalance. More than 50% of the population is less than
21 years old. The population lacks education and productive skills,
particularly in the poverty-ridden countryside, which suffers from
an almost total lack of basic infrastructure.
Cameroon
Because of its modest oil resources and favorable
agricultural conditions, Cameroon has one of the best-endowed
primary commodity economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Still, it faces
many of the serious problems facing other underdeveloped countries,
such as a top-heavy civil service and a generally unfavorable
climate for business enterprise. Since 1990, the government has
embarked on various IMF and World Bank programs designed to spur
business investment, increase efficiency in agriculture, improve
trade, and recapitalize the nation's banks. In June 2000, the
government completed an IMF-sponsored, three-year structural
adjustment program; however, the IMF is pressing for more reforms,
including increased budget transparency, privatization, and poverty
reduction programs. In January 2001, the Paris Club agreed to reduce
Cameroon's debt of $1.3 billion by $900 million; debt relief now
totals $1.26 billion. International oil and cocoa prices have a
significant impact on the economy.
Canada
As an affluent, high-tech industrial society in the
trillion-dollar class, Canada resembles the US in its
market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and affluent
living standards. Since World War II, the impressive growth of the
manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the
nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial
and urban. The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the
1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which includes
Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic
integration with the US. Given its great natural resources, skilled
labor force, and modern capital plant, Canada enjoys solid economic
prospects. Top-notch fiscal management has produced consecutive
balanced budgets since 1997, although public debate continues over
the equitable distribution of federal funds to the Canadian
provinces. Exports account for roughly a third of GDP. Canada enjoys
a substantial trade surplus with its principal trading partner, the
US, which absorbs 80% of Canadian exports each year. Canada is the
US's largest foreign supplier of energy, including oil, gas,
uranium, and electric power. During 2007, Canada enjoyed good
economic growth, moderate inflation, and the lowest unemployment
rate in more than three decades.
Cape Verde
This island economy suffers from a poor natural resource
base, including serious water shortages exacerbated by cycles of
long-term drought. The economy is service-oriented, with commerce,
transport, tourism, and public services accounting for about
three-fourths of GDP. Although nearly 70% of the population lives in
rural areas, the share of food production in GDP is low. About 82%
of food must be imported. The fishing potential, mostly lobster and
tuna, is not fully exploited. Cape Verde annually runs a high trade
deficit, financed by foreign aid and remittances from emigrants;
remittances supplement GDP by more than 20%. Economic reforms are
aimed at developing the private sector and attracting foreign
investment to diversify the economy. Future prospects depend heavily
on the maintenance of aid flows, the encouragement of tourism,
remittances, and the momentum of the government's development
program. Cape Verde became a member of the WTO in July 2008.
Cayman Islands
With no direct taxation, the islands are a thriving
offshore financial center. More than 68,000 companies were
registered in the Cayman Islands as of 2003, including almost 500
banks, 800 insurers, and 5,000 mutual funds. A stock exchange was
opened in 1997. Tourism is also a mainstay, accounting for about 70%
of GDP and 75% of foreign currency earnings. The tourist industry is
aimed at the luxury market and caters mainly to visitors from North
America. Total tourist arrivals exceeded 2.1 million in 2003, with
about half from the US. About 90% of the islands' food and consumer
goods must be imported. The Caymanians enjoy one of the highest
outputs per capita and one of the highest standards of living in the
world.
Central African Republic
Subsistence agriculture, together with
forestry, remains the backbone of the economy of the Central African
Republic (CAR), with more than 70% of the population living in
outlying areas. The agricultural sector generates more than half of
GDP. Timber has accounted for about 16% of export earnings and the
diamond industry, for 40%. Important constraints to economic
development include the CAR's landlocked position, a poor
transportation system, a largely unskilled work force, and a legacy
of misdirected macroeconomic policies. Factional fighting between
the government and its opponents remains a drag on economic
revitalization. Distribution of income is extraordinarily unequal.
Grants from France and the international community can only
partially meet humanitarian needs.
Chad
Chad's primarily agricultural economy will continue to be
boosted by major foreign direct investment projects in the oil
sector that began in 2000. At least 80% of Chad's population relies
on subsistence farming and livestock raising for its livelihood.
Chad's economy has long been handicapped by its landlocked position,
high energy costs, and a history of instability. Chad relies on
foreign assistance and foreign capital for most public and private
sector investment projects. A consortium led by two US companies has
been investing $3.7 billion to develop oil reserves - estimated at 1
billion barrels - in southern Chad. Chinese companies are also
expanding exploration efforts and plan to build a refinery. The
nation's total oil reserves have been estimated to be 1.5 billion
barrels. Oil production came on stream in late 2003. Chad began to
export oil in 2004. Cotton, cattle, and gum arabic provide the bulk
of Chad's non-oil export earnings.
Chile
Chile has a market-oriented economy characterized by a high
level of foreign trade. During the early 1990s, Chile's reputation
as a role model for economic reform was strengthened when the
democratic government of Patricio AYLWIN - which took over from the
military in 1990 - deepened the economic reform initiated by the
military government. Growth in real GDP averaged 8% during 1991-97,
but fell to half that level in 1998 because of tight monetary
policies implemented to keep the current account deficit in check
and because of lower export earnings - the latter a product of the
global financial crisis. A severe drought exacerbated the recession
in 1999, reducing crop yields and causing hydroelectric shortfalls
and electricity rationing, and Chile experienced negative economic
growth for the first time in more than 15 years. Despite the effects
of the recession, Chile maintained its reputation for strong
financial institutions and sound policy that have given it the
strongest sovereign bond rating in South America. Between 2000 and
2007 growth ranged between 2%-6%. Throughout these years Chile
maintained a low rate of inflation with GDP growth coming from high
copper prices, solid export earnings (particularly forestry,
fishing, and mining), and growing domestic consumption. President
BACHELET in 2006 established an Economic and Social Stabilization
Fund to hold excess copper revenues so that social spending can be
maintained during periods of copper shortfalls. This fund probably
surpassed $20 billion at the end of 2007. Chile continues to attract
foreign direct investment, but most foreign investment goes into
gas, water, electricity and mining. Unemployment has exhibited a
downward trend over the past two years, dropping to 7.8% and 7.0% at
the end of 2006 and 2007, respectively. Chile deepened its
longstanding commitment to trade liberalization with the signing of
a free trade agreement with the US, which took effect on 1 January
2004. Chile claims to have more bilateral or regional trade
agreements than any other country. It has 57 such agreements (not
all of them full free trade agreements), including with the European
Union, Mercosur, China, India, South Korea, and Mexico.
China China's economy during the last quarter century has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy. Reforms started in the late 1970s with the phasing out of collectivized agriculture, and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of prices, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state enterprises, the foundation of a diversified banking system, the development of stock markets, the rapid growth of the non-state sector, and the opening to foreign trade and investment. China has generally implemented reforms in a gradualist or piecemeal fashion, including the sale of minority shares in four of China's largest state banks to foreign investors and refinements in foreign exchange and bond markets in 2005. After keeping its currency tightly linked to the US dollar for years, China in July 2005 revalued its currency by 2.1% against the US dollar and moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies. Cumulative appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar since the end of the dollar peg reached 15% in January 2008. The restructuring of the economy and resulting efficiency gains have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, China in 2007 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US, although in per capita terms the country is still lower middle-income. Annual inflows of foreign direct investment in 2007 rose to $75 billion. By the end of 2007, more than 5,000 domestic Chinese enterprises had established direct investments in 172 countries and regions around the world. The Chinese government faces several economic development challenges: (a) to sustain adequate job growth for tens of millions of workers laid off from state-owned enterprises, migrants, and new entrants to the work force; (b) to reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) to contain environmental damage and social strife related to the economy's rapid transformation. Economic development has been more rapid in coastal provinces than in the interior, and approximately 200 million rural laborers have relocated to urban areas to find work. One demographic consequence of the "one child" policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. Deterioration in the environment - notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table, especially in the north - is another long-term problem. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. In 2007 China intensified government efforts to improve environmental conditions, tying the evaluation of local officials to environmental targets, publishing a national climate change policy, and establishing a high level leading group on climate change, headed by Premier WEN Jiabao. The Chinese government seeks to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil as its double-digit economic growth increases demand. Chinese energy officials in 2007 agreed to purchase five third generation nuclear reactors from Western companies. More power generating capacity came on line in 2006 as large scale investments - including the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River - were completed.
Christmas Island
Phosphate mining had been the only significant
economic activity, but in December 1987 the Australian Government
closed the mine. In 1991, the mine was reopened. With the support of
the government, a $34 million casino opened in 1993, but closed in
1998. The Australian Government in 2001 agreed to support the
creation of a commercial space-launching site on the island,
expected to begin operations in the near future.