Indonesia

The Indonesian economy keeps growing : GDP growth rate was 5.1% in 2004 and 5.8% in 2005. The IMF forecasts a 5.1% growth in 2006. Households consumption constitutes growth's main driving force. Indonesia has to face several challenges. First, external debt remains high and accounted for 45% of the GDP in 2005. Second, inflation is huge (7.8% in 2005). In short, 17% of the active population live below poverty line.

The agriculture sector provides 17% of Indonesian GDP and employs 44% of the active population. The archipelago's major crops are rice, cocoa and coffee. Indonesia also produces rubber, wood and palm oil and covers the widest tropical forests surface in the world, after Amazonia. Indonesia's mining resources are very huge: oil, gas, tin and copper. Indonesia is the only Asian country to be an OPEC member and supplies 5% of OPEC's production. The textile and clothing sector is a first plan industrial activity. Tourism seriously suffers from the repercussions of Bali and Jakarta attacks in 2002 and 2003. and the repercussion of December 2004's tsunami.

Indonesia is a member of WTO and ASEAN, Association of Southeast Asian nations. Indonesia's three top export partners are Japan, the United States and Singapore. Its top three import partners are Japan, Singapore and China. The archipelago mainly imports machinery and transport equipment, fuel oils and lubricants, chemicals and manufactured products.