lling as a percentage of GDP in 2004, while Brazil's foreign debt
(a mix of private and public debt) is large in relation to Brazil's
small (but growing) export base. Another challenge is maintaining
economic growth over a period of time to generate employment and
make the government debt burden more manageable.
British Indian Ocean Territory
All economic activity is concentrated
on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense
facilities are located. Construction projects and various services
needed to support the military installations are done by military
and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and
the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the
islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane
production and fishing.
British Virgin Islands
The economy, one of the most stable and
prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism,
generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated
350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998.
Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In
the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration
to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and
incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly
400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The
adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which
provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory
gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make
the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international
business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural
activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic
food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US
Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as
its currency since 1959.
Brunei
This small, well-to-do economy encompasses a mixture of
foreign and domestic entrepreneurship, government regulation,
welfare measures, and village tradition. Crude oil and natural gas
production account for nearly half of GDP. Per capita GDP is far
above most other Third World countries, and substantial income from
overseas investment supplements income from domestic production. The
government provides for all medical services and free educ
|