Levada Center (conducts polls); Memorial (human rights group;
Movement Against Illegal Migration; Pamjat (preservation of
historical monuments and recording of history); Russian Orthodox
Church; Russian-Chechen Friendship Society
other: ecology groups; human rights groups; nationalist pragmatists
(no foreign influence over Central Eurasia); neo-Eurasianists
(against Western influence for the area); religious groups;
westernizers (lean towards the West)
Rwanda
IBUKA (association of genocide survivors)
Saint Barthelemy
The Marine Reserve (protection of fish); Rotary Club
Saint Helena
other: private sector; unions
Saint Kitts and Nevis
NA
Saint Lucia
NA
Saint Martin
NA
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
NA
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
NA
Samoa
NA
San Marino
NA
Sao Tome and Principe
Association of Sao Tome and Principe NGOs or
FONG
other: the media
Saudi Arabia
Ansar Al Marah (supports women's rights)
other: gas companies; religious groups
Senegal
other: labor; students; Sufi brotherhoods, including the
Mourides and Tidjanes; teachers
Serbia
NA
Seychelles
Roman Catholic Church
other: trade unions
Sierra Leone
other: student unions; trade unions
Singapore
UNFEM [Saleeman ISMAIL]
other: investment companies; news organizations
Slovakia
Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Confederation of
Trade Unions or KOZ; Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia or ZPS;
Federation of Employers' Associations of the Slovak Republic;
National Union of Employers or RUZ; Slovak Chamber of Commerce and
Industry or SOPK; The Business Alliance of Slovakia or PAS
Slovenia
Democratic Party of Slovenian Pensioners or DeSUS
(protecting the rights of the older generation); Slovenian Roma
Association [Jozek Horvat MUC]
other: Catholic Church
Solomon Islands
Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM); Malaita Eagle Force
(MEF); note - these rival armed ethnic factions crippled the Solomon
Islands in a wave of violence from 1999 to 2003
Somalia
other: numerous clan and sub-clan factions exist both in
support and in opposition to the transitional government
South Africa
Congress of South African Trade Unions or COSATU
[Zwelinzima VAVI, general secretary]; South African Communist Party
or SACP [Blade NZIMANDE, general secretary]; South African National
Civics Organization or SANCO [Mlungisi HLONGWANE, national president]
note: note - COSATU and SACP are in a formal alliance with the ANC
Spain
Association for Victims of Terrorism or AVT (grassroots
organization devoted primarily to opposing ETA terrorist attacks and
supporting its victims); Basta Ya (Spanish for "Enough is Enough";
grassroots organization devoted primarily to opposing ETA terrorist
attacks and supporting its victims); Nunca Mais (Galician for "Never
Again"; formed in response to the oil Tanker Prestige oil spill);
Socialist General Union of Workers or UGT and the smaller
independent Workers Syndical Union or USO; Trade Union Confederation
of Workers' Commissions or CC.OO.
other: business and landowning interests; Catholic Church; free
labor unions (authorized in April 1977); university students
Sri Lanka
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE [Velupillai
PRABHAKARAN](insurgent group fighting for a separate state); Tamil
Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) or Karuna Faction [Vinayagamurthi
MURALITHARAN] (paramilitary breakaway from LTTE and fighting LTTE)
other: Buddhist clergy; labor unions; radical chauvinist Sinhalese
groups such as the National Movement Against Terrorism; Sinhalese
Buddhist lay groups
Sudan
Umma Party [Sadiq al-MAHDI]; Popular Congress Party or PCP
[Hassan al-TURABI]
Suriname
Association of Indigenous Village Chiefs [Ricardo PANE];
Association of Saramaccan Authorities or Maroon [Head Captain WASE];
Women's Parliament Forum or PVF [Iris GILLIAD]
Svalbard
NA
Swaziland
Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions; Swaziland and
Solidarity Network or SSN
Sweden
Children's Rights in Society; Central Association of
Salarited Emplyees or TCO; Swedish Federation of Trade Unions or LO
other: media
Switzerland
NA
Syria
Damascus Declaration National Council [Riyad SEIF, secretary
general] (a broad alliance of opposition groups and individuals
including: Committee for Revival of Civil Society [Michel KILO,
Riyad SEIF], Communist Action Party [Fateh JAMOUS], Kurdish
Democratic Alliance, Kurdish Democratic Front, Liberal Nationalists'
Movement, National Democratic Front, National Democratic Rally, and
Syrian Human Rights Society or HRAS [Fawed FAWUZ]); National
Salvation Front (alliance between former Vice President Abd al-Halim
KHADDAM, the SMB, and other small opposition groups); Syrian Muslim
Brotherhood or SMB [Sadr al-Din al-BAYANUNI] (operates in exile in
London; endorsed the Damascus Declaration, but is not an official
member)
Taiwan
Organization for Taiwan Nation Building; World United
Formosans for Independence
other: environmental groups; independence movement; various business
groups
note: debate on Taiwan independence has become acceptable within the
mainstream of domestic politics on Taiwan; political liberalization
and the increased representation of opposition parties in Taiwan's
legislature have opened public debate on the island's national
identity; a broad popular consensus has developed that the island
currently enjoys sovereign independence and - whatever the ultimate
outcome regarding reunification or independence - that Taiwan's
people must have the deciding voice; public opinion polls
consistently show a substantial majority of Taiwan people supports
maintaining Taiwan's status quo for the foreseeable future;
advocates of Taiwan independence oppose the stand that the island
will eventually unify with mainland China; goals of the Taiwan
independence movement include establishing a sovereign nation on
Taiwan and entering the UN
Tajikistan
Agrarian Party [Hikmatullo NASREDDINOV] (unregistered
political party); Democratic Party or DPT [Masud SOBIROV]
(splintered from Iskanderov's DPT); Progressive Party [Sulton
QUVVATOV]; Socialist Party or SPT [Abdualim GHAFFOROV] (splintered
from Narziyev's SPT); Unity Party [Hikmatullo SAIDOV]
other: splinter parties recognized by the government but not by the
base of the party; unregistered political parties
Tanzania
Economic and Social Research Foundation or ESRF; Free
Zanzibar; Tanzania Media Women's Association or TAMWA
Thailand
People's Alliance for Democracy; Campaign for Democracy
[Pibob THONGCHAI]
Timor-Leste
NA
Togo
NA
Tokelau
none
Tonga
Human Rights and Democracy Movement Tonga or HRDMT [Rev.
Simote VEA, chairman]; Public Servant's Association [Finau TUTONE]
Trinidad and Tobago
Jamaat-al Muslimeen [Yasin BAKR]
Tunisia
18 October Group [collective leadership]; Tunisian League
for Human Rights or LTDH [Mokhtar TRIFI]
Turkey
Confederation of Public Sector Unions or KESK [Ismail Hakki
TOMBUL]; Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK
[Suleyman CELEBI]; Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's
Association or MUSIAD [Omer BOLAT]; Moral Rights Workers Union or
Hak-Is [Salim USLU]; Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or
TISK [Tugurl KUDATGOBILIK]; Turkish Confederation of Labor or
Turk-Is [Salih KILIC]; Turkish Confederation of Tradesmen and
Craftsmen or TESK [Dervis GUNDAY]; Turkish Industrialists' and
Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Omer SABANCI]; Turkish Union of
Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [M. Rifat
HISARCIKLIOGLU]
Turkmenistan
NA
Turks and Caicos Islands
NA
Tuvalu
none
Uganda
Lord's Resistence Group or LRA [Joseph KONY]; Young
Parliamentary Association [Henry BANYENZAKI]; Parliamentary Advocacy
Forum or PAFO; National Association of Women Organizations in Uganda
or NAWOU [Florence NEKYON]; The Ugandan Coalition for Political
Accountability to Wormen or COPAW
Ukraine
Committee of Voters of Ukraine [Ihor POPOV]; Peoples'
Self-Defense [Yuriy LUTSENKO]
United Arab Emirates
NA
United Kingdom
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; Confederation of
British Industry; National Farmers' Union; Trades Union Congress
United States
environmentalists; business groups; labor unions;
churches; ethnic groups; political action committees or PAC; health
groups; education groups; cuvuc griyos; youth groups; transportation
groups; agricultural groups; veterans groups; women's groups; reform
lobbies
Uruguay
Architect's Society of Uruguay (professional organization);
Chamber of Uruguayan Industries (manufacturer's association);
Chemist and Pharmaceutical Association (professional organization);
PIT/CNT (powerful federation of Uruguayan Unions - umbrella labor
organization); Rural Association of Uruguay (rancher's association);
Uruguayan Construction League; Uruguayan Network of Political Women
other: Catholic Church; students
Uzbekistan
Agrarian and Entrepreneurs' Party [Marat ZAHIDOV]; Birlik
(Unity) Movement [Abdurakhim POLAT, chairman]; Committee for the
Protection of Human Rights [Marat ZAHIDOV]; Erk (Freedom) Democratic
Party [Muhammad SOLIH, chairman] (was banned 9 December 1992);
Ezgulik Human Rights Society [Vasila INOYATOVA]; Free Farmers' Party
or Ozod Dehqonlar [Nigora KHIDOYATOVA]; Human Rights Society of
Uzbekistan [Talib YAKUBOV, chairman]; Independent Human Rights
Organization of Uzbekistan [Mikhail ARDZINOV, chairman]; Mazlum;
Sunshine Coalition [Sanjar UMAROV, chairman]
Vanuatu
NA
Venezuela
FEDECAMARAS, a conservative business group; VECINOS
groups; Venezuelan Confederation of Workers or CTV (labor
organization dominated by the Democratic Action)
Vietnam
8406 Bloc; Democratic Party of Vietnam or DPV; People's
Democratic Party Vietnam or PDP-VN; Alliance for Democracy
note: these groups advocate democracy but are not recognized by the
government
Virgin Islands
NA
Wallis and Futuna
NA
Western Sahara
none
Yemen
Muslim Brotherhood; Women National Committee
other: conservative tribal groups
Zambia
NA
Zimbabwe
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition [Xolani ZITHA]; National
Constitutional Assembly or NCA [Lovemore MADHUKU]; Women of Zimbabwe
Arise or WOZA [Jenny WILLIAMS]; Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions or
ZCTU [Wellington CHIBEBE]
This page was last updated on 18 December 2008
======================================================================
@2116 Economy - overview
Afghanistan
Afghanistan's economy is recovering from decades of
conflict. The economy has improved significantly since the fall of
the Taliban regime in 2001 largely because of the infusion of
international assistance, the recovery of the agricultural sector,
and service sector growth. Real GDP growth exceeded 7% in 2007.
Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan is extremely
poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, agriculture,
and trade with neighboring countries. Much of the population
continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water,
electricity, medical care, and jobs. Criminality, insecurity, and
the Afghan Government's inability to extend rule of law to all parts
of the country pose challenges to future economic growth. It will
probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor aid
and attention to significantly raise Afghanistan's living standards
from its current level, among the lowest in the world. International
pledges made by more than 60 countries and international financial
institutions at the Berlin Donors Conference for Afghan
reconstruction in March 2004 reached $8.9 billion for 2004-09. While
the international community remains committed to Afghanistan's
development, pledging over $24 billion at three donors' conferences
since 2002, Kabul will need to overcome a number of challenges.
Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade generate
roughly $4 billion in illicit economic activity and looms as one of
Kabul's most serious policy concerns. Other long-term challenges
include: budget sustainability, job creation, corruption, government
capacity, and rebuilding war torn infrastructure.
Akrotiri
Economic activity is limited to providing services to the
military and their families located in Akrotiri. All food and
manufactured goods must be imported.
Albania
Lagging behind its Balkan neighbors, Albania is making the
difficult transition to a more modern open-market economy. The
government has taken measures to curb violent crime, and recently
adopted a fiscal reform package aimed at reducing the large gray
economy and attracting foreign investment. The economy is bolstered
by annual remittances from abroad of $600-$800 million, mostly from
Albanians residing in Greece and Italy; this helps offset the
towering trade deficit. Agriculture, which accounts for more than
one-fifth of GDP, is held back because of lack of modern equipment,
unclear property rights, and the prevalence of small, inefficient
plots of land. Energy shortages and antiquated and inadequate
infrastructure contribute to Albania's poor business environment,
which make it difficult to attract and sustain foreign investment.
The completion of a new thermal power plant near Vlore and improved
transmission line between Albania and Montenegro will help relieve
the energy shortages. Also, the government is moving slowly to
improve the poor national road and rail network, a long-standing
barrier to sustained economic growth. On the positive side,
macroeconomic growth was strong in 2003-07 and inflation is low and
stable.
Algeria
The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy,
accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over
95% of export earnings. Algeria has the eighth-largest reserves of
natural gas in the world and is the fourth-largest gas exporter; it
ranks 14th in oil reserves. Sustained high oil prices in recent
years have helped improve Algeria's financial and macroeconomic
indicators. Algeria is running substantial trade surpluses and
building up record foreign exchange reserves. Algeria has decreased
its external debt to less than 10% of GDP after repaying its Paris
Club and London Club debt in 2006. Real GDP has risen due to higher
oil output and increased government spending. The government's
continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and
domestic investment outside the energy sector, however, has had
little success in reducing high unemployment and improving living
standards. Structural reform within the economy, such as development
of the banking sector and the construction of infrastructure, moves
ahead slowly hampered by corruption and bureaucratic resistance.
American Samoa
American Samoa has a traditional Polynesian economy
in which more than 90% of the land is communally owned. Economic
activity is strongly linked to the US with which American Samoa
conducts most of its commerce. Tuna fishing and tuna processing
plants are the backbone of the private sector, with canned tuna the
primary export. Transfers from the US Government add substantially
to American Samoa's economic well being. Attempts by the government
to develop a larger and broader economy are restrained by Samoa's
remote location, its limited transportation, and its devastating
hurricanes. Tourism is a promising developing sector.
note: as a territory of the US, American Samoa does not treat the US
as an external trade partner
Andorra
Tourism, the mainstay of Andorra's tiny, well-to-do economy,
accounts for more than 80% of GDP. An estimated 11.6 million
tourists visit annually, attracted by Andorra's duty-free status and
by its summer and winter resorts. Andorra's comparative advantage
has recently eroded as the economies of neighboring France and Spain
have been opened up, providing broader availability of goods and
lower tariffs. The banking sector, with its partial "tax haven"
status, also contributes substantially to the economy. Agricultural
production is limited - only 2% of the land is arable - and most
food has to be imported. The principal livestock activity is sheep
raising. Manufacturing output consists mainly of cigarettes, cigars,
and furniture. Andorra is a member of the EU Customs Union and is
treated as an EU member for trade in manufactured goods (no tariffs)
and as a non-EU member for agricultural products.
Angola
Angola's high growth rate is driven by its oil sector, with
record oil prices and rising petroleum production. Oil production
and its supporting activities contribute about 85% of GDP. Increased
oil production supported growth averaging more than 15% per year
from 2004 to 2007. A postwar reconstruction boom and resettlement of
displaced persons has led to high rates of growth in construction
and agriculture as well. Much of the country's infrastructure is
still damaged or undeveloped from the 27-year-long civil war.
Remnants of the conflict such as widespread land mines still mar the
countryside even though an apparently durable peace was established
after the death of rebel leader Jonas SAVIMBI in February 2002.
Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for most of the
people, but half of the country's food must still be imported. In
2005, the government started using a $2 billion line of credit,
since increased to $7 billion, from China to rebuild Angola's public
infrastructure, and several large-scale projects were completed in
2006. Angola also has large credit lines from Brazil, Portugal,
Germany, Spain, and the EU. The central bank in 2003 implemented an
exchange rate stabilization program using foreign exchange reserves
to buy kwanzas out of circulation. This policy became more
sustainable in 2005 because of strong oil export earnings; it has
significantly reduced inflation. Although consumer inflation
declined from 325% in 2000 to under 13% in 2007, the stabilization
policy has put pressure on international net liquidity. Angola
became a member of OPEC in late 2006 and in late 2007 was assigned a
production quota of 1.9 million barrels a day, somewhat less than
the 2-2.5 million bbl Angola's government had wanted. To fully take
advantage of its rich national resources - gold, diamonds, extensive
forests, Atlantic fisheries, and large oil deposits - Angola will
need to implement government reforms, increase transparency, and
reduce corruption. The government has rejected a formal IMF
monitored program, although it continues Article IV consultations
and ad hoc cooperation. Corruption, especially in the extractive
sectors, and the negative effects of large inflows of foreign
exchange, are major challenges facing Angola.
Anguilla
Anguilla has few natural resources, and the economy depends
heavily on luxury tourism, offshore banking, lobster fishing, and
remittances from emigrants. Increased activity in the tourism
industry has spurred the growth of the construction sector,
contributing to economic growth. Anguillan officials have put
substantial effort into developing the offshore financial sector,
which is small, but growing. In the medium term, prospects for the
economy will depend largely on the tourism sector and, therefore, on
revived income growth in the industrialized nations as well as on
favorable weather conditions.
Antarctica
Fishing off the coast and tourism, both based abroad,
account for Antarctica's limited economic activity. Antarctic
fisheries in 2005-06 (1 July-30 June) reported landing 128,081
metric tons (estimated fishing from the area covered by the
Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
(CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Antarctic Treaty area).
Unregulated fishing, particularly of Patagonian toothfish
(Dissostichus eleginoides), is a serious problem. The CCAMLR
determines the recommended catch limits for marine species. A total
of 36,460 tourists visited the Antarctic Treaty area in the 2006-07
Antarctic summer, up from the 30,877 visitors the previous year
(estimates provided to the Antarctic Treaty by the International
Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO); this does not
include passengers on overflights). Nearly all of them were
passengers on commercial (nongovernmental) ships and several yachts
that make trips during the summer. Most tourist trips last
approximately two weeks.
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua has a relatively high GDP per capita in
comparison to most other Caribbean nations. It has experienced solid
growth since 2003, driven by a construction boom in hotels and
housing that which should wind down in 2008. Tourism continues to
dominate the economy, accounting for more than half of GDP. The
dual-island nation's agricultural production is focused on the
domestic market and constrained by a limited water supply and a
labor shortage stemming from the lure of higher wages in tourism and
construction. Manufacturing comprises enclave-type assembly for
export with major products being bedding, handicrafts, and
electronic components. Prospects for economic growth in the medium
term will continue to depend on income growth in the industrialized
world, especially in the US, which accounts for slightly more than
one-third of tourist arrivals. Since taking office in 2004, the
SPENCER government has adopted an ambitious fiscal reform program,
but will continue to be saddled by its debt burden with a
debt-to-GDP ratio exceeding 100%.
Arctic Ocean
Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of
natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.
Argentina
Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly
literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a
diversified industrial base. Although one of the world's wealthiest
countries 100 years ago, Argentina suffered during most of the 20th
century from recurring economic crises, persistent fiscal and
current account deficits, high inflation, mounting external debt,
and capital flight. A severe depression, growing public and external
indebtedness, and a bank run culminated in 2001 in the most serious
economic, social, and political crisis in the country's turbulent
history. Interim President Adolfo RODRIGUEZ SAA declared a default -
the largest in history - on the government's foreign debt in
December of that year, and abruptly resigned only a few days after
taking office. His successor, Eduardo DUHALDE, announced an end to
the peso's decade-long 1-to-1 peg to the US dollar in early 2002.
The economy bottomed out that year, with real GDP 18% smaller than
in 1998 and almost 60% of Argentines under the poverty line. Real
GDP rebounded to grow by an average 9% annually over the subsequent
five years, taking advantage of previously idled industrial capacity
and labor, an audacious debt restructuring and reduced debt burden,
excellent international financial conditions, and expansionary
monetary and fiscal policies. Inflation, however, reached
double-digit levels in 2006 and the government of President Nestor
KIRCHNER responded with "voluntary" price agreements with
businesses, as well as export taxes and restraints. Multi-year price
freezes on electricity and natural gas rates for residential users
stoked consumption and kept private investment away, leading to
restrictions on industrial use and blackouts in 2007.