omic policies and
its import substitution trade policy for market-oriented policies
and export-oriented trade. Sri Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are
food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages,
telecommunications, and insurance and banking. In 2003, plantation
crops made up only 15% of exports (compared with 93% in 1970), while
textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an average
annual rate of 5.5% in the early 1990s until a drought and a
deteriorating security situation lowered growth to 3.8% in 1996. The
economy rebounded in 1997-2000 with average growth of 5.3%, but 2001
saw the first contraction in the country's history, -1.4%, due to a
combination of power shortages, severe budgetary problems, the
global slowdown, and continuing civil strife. Growth recovered to
4.0% in 2002 and 5.2% in 2003. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work
abroad, 90% in the Middle East. They send home about $1 billion a
year. The struggle by the Tamil Tigers of the north and east for a
largely independent homeland continues to cast a shadow over the
economy.

Sudan
Sudan has turned around a struggling economy with sound
economic policies and infrastructure investments, yet it still faces
formidable economic problems, starting from its low level of per
capita output and extending to its devastating civil stife. From
1997 to date, Sudan has been implementing IMF macroeconomic reforms.
In 1999, Sudan began exporting crude oil and in the last quarter of
1999 recorded its first trade surplus, which, along with monetary
policy, has stabilized the exchange rate. Increased oil production,
revived light industry, and expanded export processing zones helped
sustain GDP growth at 6.1% in 2003 and 7% in 2004. Agriculture
production remains Sudan's most important sector, employing 80% of
the work force and contributing 39% of GDP, but most farms remain
rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Chronic instability - including
the long-standing civil war between the Muslim north and the
Christian/pagan south, the ethnic purges in Darfur, adverse weather,
and weak world agricultural prices - ensure that much of the
population will remain at or below the poverty line for years.

Suriname
The economy is dominated by the bauxite industry, which
accounts for more than 15% of GDP and 70% of export earnings.
Suriname's economic prospects for the medium term will depend