ment ports.

Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world
economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch.
It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West,
extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals,
and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over 60%
of the world's fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation
of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role
in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru.
The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the
wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to
fluctuations in new drillings.

Pakistan
Pakistan, an impoverished and underdeveloped country, has
suffered from decades of internal political disputes, low levels of
foreign investment, and a costly, ongoing confrontation with
neighboring India. However, since 2001, IMF-approved reforms - most
notably, privatization of the banking sector - bolstered by generous
foreign assistance and renewed access to global markets, have
generated macroeconomic recovery. Pakistan has experienced GDP
growth in the 6-8% range in 2004-07, spurred by gains in the
industrial and service sectors. Poverty levels have decreased by 10%
since 2001, and Islamabad has steadily raised development spending
in recent years, including a 52% real increase in the budget
allocation for development in FY07. In 2007 the fiscal deficit - a
result of chronically low tax collection and increased spending -
exceeded Islamabad's target of 4% of GDP. Inflation remains the top
concern among the public, jumping from 7.7% in 2007 to more than 11%
during the first few months of 2008, primarily because of rising
world commodity prices. The Pakistani rupee has depreciated since
the proclamation of emergency rule in November 2007.

Palau
The economy consists primarily of tourism, subsistence
agriculture, and fishing. The government is the major employer of
the work force relying heavily on financial assistance from the US.
The Compact of Free Association with the US, entered into after the
end of the UN trusteeship on 1 October 1994, provided Palau with up
to $700 million in US aid for the following 15 years in return for
furnishing military facilities. Business and tourist arrivals
numbered 63,000 in 2003. The population enj