ngress 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 econom