Current Economic Trends in the South Pacific: prospects for export diversification

Abstract

The six Pacific island economies surveyed here, although sharing many common features of small island economies - small domestic markets, a narrow resource and production base, high unit costs of infrastructure, heavy dependence on foreign trade and a high vulnerability to external shocks - face very different problems and constraints in seeking to promote economic growth through diversification and export promotion. Many of these economies have been quite successful in achieving macroeconomic stability and in adopting policies conducive to more open and free international trade. However, it should not be assumed that export growth will necessarily follow, or that the same set of export diversification measures will be equally appropriate to each case. Show more