ent to disadvantaged areas, developing small and
medium enterprises, promoting agriculture, and expanding the already
enormous civil service. The government has halted most
privatizations. Although suffering a brutal civil war that began in
1983, Sri Lanka saw GDP growth average 4.5% in the last ten years,
with a brief interruption during the global downturn in 2001. In
late December 2004, a major tsunami took about 31,000 lives, left
more than 6,300 missing and 443,000 displaced, and destroyed an
estimated $1.5 billion worth of property. Growth, partly spurred by
reconstruction, reached 5% in 2005 and more than 6% in 2006. Sri
Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are food processing, textiles and
apparel, food and beverages, port contstruction, telecommunications,
and insurance and banking. In 2005, plantation crops made up only
about 15% of exports (compared with more than 90% in 1970), while
textiles and garments accounted for more than 60%. 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, but it still faces
formidable economic problems, starting from its low level of per
capita output. 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 10% in 2006.
Agricultural production remains Sudan's most important sector,
employing 80% of the work force, contributing 35% of GDP, and
accounting for most of GDP growth, but most farms remain rain-fed
and susceptible to drought. Chronic instability - resulting from the
long-standing civil war between the Muslim north and the
Christian/pagan south, 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 mining industry, which
accounts for more than a third of GDP and subjects gove