on
renewed commitment to responsible monetary and fiscal policies and
to the introduction of structural reforms to liberalize markets and
promote competition. The government of Ronald VENETIAAN has begun an
austerity program, raised taxes, and attempted to control spending.
However, in 2002, President VENETIAAN agreed to a large pay raise
for civil servants, which threatens his earlier gains in stabilizing
the economy. The Dutch Government has agreed to restart the aid
flow, which will allow Suriname to access international development
financing. The short-term economic outlook depends on the
government's ability to control inflation and on the development of
projects in the bauxite and gold mining sectors.

Svalbard
Coal mining is the major economic activity on Svalbard. The
treaty of 9 February 1920 gives the 41 signatories equal rights to
exploit mineral deposits, subject to Norwegian regulation. Although
US, UK, Dutch, and Swedish coal companies have mined in the past,
the only companies still mining are Norwegian and Russian. The
settlements on Svalbard are essentially company towns. The Norwegian
state-owned coal company employs nearly 60% of the Norwegian
population on the island, runs many of the local services, and
provides most of the local infrastructure. There is also some
hunting of seal, reindeer, and fox.

Swaziland
In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture
occupies more than 80% of the population. The manufacturing sector
has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain
important foreign exchange earners. Mining has declined in
importance in recent years with only coal and quarry stone mines
remaining active. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short
border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South
Africa from which it receives about nine-tenths of its imports and
to which it sends nearly three-quarters of its exports. Customs
duties from the Southern African Customs Union and worker
remittances from South Africa substantially supplement domestically
earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere
for foreign investment. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and
sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. More than
one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2002
because of drought, and more than one-third of the adult population
wa