Introduction

Eritrea secured independence from Ethiopia on May 24, 1993. Eritrea faced major economic problems and is in the process of rebuilding it's economy. Human Development Index in 2005 ranked Eritrea 164 out of 174 nations. .GDP in 2004 is estimated to be 2.5% over 2003. May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government CIA World Factbook Entry for United States House. ... Capital expenditures (CAPEX) are expenditures used by a company to acquire or upgrade physical assets such as equipment, property, industrial buildings. ...

Effects of conflict with Ethiopia

The border conflict with Ethiopia, which lasted from 1998 to 2000 drained away substantial resources vital to Eritrea's economic development and severely damaged Eritrea's economy. GDP growth fell to zero in 1999 and to -1% in 2000. 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

The May 2000 Ethiopian offensive into northern Eritrea caused approximately $600 million in property damage and loss, including losses of upto $225 million in livestock and 55,000 homes. The attack prevented planting of crops in Eritrea's most productive region, causing food production to drop by 62%.

Despite the war, Eritrea developed its transportation infrastructure, asphalting new roads, improving its ports, and repairing war damaged roads and bridges. Since the war ended, the government has maintained a firm grip on the economy, expanding the use of the military and party-owned businesses to complete Eritrea's development agenda.

The present

The Government of Eritrea states that it is committed to a market economy and privatization, and it has made development and economic recovery its priorities. Government revenues come from custom duties and taxes on income and sales. The term describes an economy where goods and services are traded. ... Privatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or, especially in India, disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership and/or transferring the management of a service or activity from the government to the private sector. ... Customs duty is a tariff or tax on the import or export of goods. ... A tax is an involuntary fee paid by individuals or businesses to a government. ...

Much of the transportation and communications infrastructure that was not destroyed by the war is outmoded and deteriorating. As a result, the government has sought international assistance for a variety of development projects and has mobilized young Eritreans serving in the National Youth Service to repair crumbling roads and dams.

The economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture, which employs 80% of the population but currently may contribute as little as 22% to GDP. Export crops include coffee, cotton, fruit, hides, and meat, but farmers are largely dependent on rain-fed agriculture, and growth in this and other sectors is hampered by lack of rain and inadequate water storage. Erratic rainfall, the delayed demobilization of agriculturalists from the military kept cereal production well below normal, holding down growth in 2002-2004. . Subsistence agriculture is agriculture carried out for survival — with few or no crops available for sale. ... Coffee beans and a cup of coffee Coffee as a drink, usually served hot, is prepared from the roasted seeds (beans) of the coffee plant. ... Cotton is a soft fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. ... Fruit stall in Barcelona, Spain. ... Hides are skins obtained from animals that are used for human use. ... Meat is animal tissue (mainly muscle) used as food. ... Farmer spreading grasshopper bait in his alfalfa field. ... Rain falling For other uses see Rain (disambiguation). ... Cereal crops are mostly grasses cultivated for their edible seeds (actually a fruit called a caryopsis). ...

Small businesses, such as restaurants, bars, stores, auto repair, and crafts continue to thrive in the Asmara area. A brewery, cigarette factory, small glass and plastics producers, several companies involved in making leather goods, and textile and sweater factories operate in the Asmara area. The textile and leather industries have made a particularly robust recovery since independence. Asmara is the capital city and largest settlement in Eritrea, home to a population of around 500,000 people. ...

Worker remittances from abroad currently contribute 40%-50% of GDP.

The Port of Massawa, destroyed by the Ethiopian Army during the final year of the war, is on its way to complete rehabilitation. With political stability and a liberal investment climate, Eritrea has begun to attract international businesses. Various U.S. and other Western concerns are planning to invest in tourism, mining, and offshore oil exploration Massawa in the 19th century Massawa or Mitsiwa (15° 36′ 33″ N 39° 26′ 43″ E) is a port on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. ... A tourist boat travels the River Seine in Paris, France Beaches make popular tourist resorts Tourist redirects here; for the album by Athlete, see Tourist (album) Tourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. ... The El Chino Mine located near Silver City, New Mexico is an open-pit copper mine Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually (but not always) from an ore body, vein, or (coal) seam. ... Oil Exploration is the search by petroleum geologists for hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Earths surface. ...

In the long term. Eritrea's economic future depends on its ability to master fundamental social and economic problems, e.g., by reducing illiteracy, promoting job creation, expanding technical training, attracting foreign investment, and streamlining the bureaucracy.

See also

• Eritrea

External Links

1. IMF Executive Board Concludes Consultation with Eritrea February 2005
2. CIA World Factbook
3. The Economist Intelligence Unit.