rogressive Party or
MPP [Barak SOPE]; National United Party or NUP [NA]; Union of
Moderate Parties or UMP [Serge VOHOR]; Vanua'aku Pati (Our Land
Party) or VP [Edward NATAPEI]; Vanuatu Republican Party or VRP
[Maxime Carlot KORMAN]; Greens (Vanuatu) [Moana CARCASSES]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA

International organization participation:
ACCT, ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, MIGA, NAM, PIF, Sparteca, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
Vanuatu does not have an embassy in the US; it does, however, have
a Permanent Mission to the UN

Diplomatic representation from the US:
the US does not have an embassy in Vanuatu; the ambassador to Papua
New Guinea is accredited to Vanuatu

Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a black
isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) all separated by a
black-edged yellow stripe in the shape of a horizontal Y (the two
points of the Y face the hoist side and enclose the triangle);
centered in the triangle is a boar's tusk encircling two crossed
namele leaves, all in yellow

Economy Vanuatu

Economy - overview:
This South Pacific island economy is based primarily on small-scale
agriculture, which provides a living for 65% of the population.
Fishing, offshore financial services, and tourism, with about 50,000
visitors in 1997, are other mainstays of the economy. Mineral
deposits are negligible; the country has no known petroleum
deposits. A small light industry sector caters to the local market.
Tax revenues come mainly from import duties. Economic development is
hindered by dependence on relatively few commodity exports,
vulnerability to natural disasters, and long distances from main
markets and between constituent islands. A severe earthquake in
November 1999 followed by a tsunami, caused extensive damage to the
northern island of Pentecote and left thousands homeless. Another
powerful earthquake in January 2002 caused extensive damage in the
capital, Port-Vila, and surrounding areas, and also was followed by
a tsunami. GDP growth rose less than 3% on average in the 1990s. In
response to foreign concerns, the government has promised to tighten
regulation of its offshore financial center. In mid-2002 the
government stepped up efforts to