Vanuatu

Location : Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia

Capital : Port-Vila ( Efate)

Languages : local languages (more than 100) 72.6%, pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama) 23.1%, English 1.9%, French 1.4%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.7% (1999 Census)

 Area : 12,200 sq km

Land Use: arable land: 2.46%; permanent crops: 7.38%; other: 90.16% (2001)

Natural Resources : manganese, hardwood forests, fish

Population : 205,754 (July 2005 est.)

International Organisation participation : ACCT, ACP, ADB, 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, WTO (observer)

GDP per capita : U$2,900 (2003 est.)

GDP Real Growth Rate : 1.1% (2003 est.)

GDP sectoral composition : agriculture: 16.6%; industry: 22.4%; services: 61% (2001 est.)

Industries: food and fish freezing, wood processing, meat canning 

Agriculture - products : copra, coconuts, cocoa, coffee, taro, yams, coconuts, fruits, vegetables; fish, beef

Exports : U$26.6 million f.o.b. (2003)

 Exports - commodities : copra, beef, cocoa, timber, kava, coffee 

Exports - partners : Thailand 47%, Malaysia 18.4%, Japan 7.5%, Belgium 5.4%, China 4.9% (2004) 

Imports : U $138 million c.i.f. (2002) 

Imports - commodities : machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, fuels

Imports - partners : Taiwan 24%, Australia 16.5%, Japan 11.4%, Singapore 8.5%, New Zealand 7.2%, Fiji 6.3%, US 4.4% (2004)

QUALITATIVE TRADE PROFILE  

Vanuatu is in the process of creating a more-open, export-oriented trade regime. Tariffs are the main trade measure for the government and they are an important source of government revenue accounting for 50% of government revenue. Its average applied tariff is 13.8% with the average for agricultural goods being 15.5% and the average for non-agricultural goods being 13.6%. Approximately 2.2% of its tariff lines are subject to non ad valorem duties. Vanuatu is in the process of acceding to the WTO. In its accession package it commits to bind 162 tariff lines at zero, bind other lines in two bands of 45 and 65 per cent, with some minor exceptions, and bind duties and charges at zero

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 

The Department of Trade, Industry & Investment is responsible for trade policy formulation. 

TRADE AGREEMENTS

Bilateral

Vanuatu has a non-reciprocal trade agreement with Fiji. Vanuatu is a beneficiary of the GSP schemes of Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, EC, Finland, Hungary, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Switzerland and US. Vanuatu is also a beneficiary under the European Union's "Everything but Arms" scheme.

Regional

Vanuatu is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum. It has also signed the Pacific Islands Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA), under which member countries agree to liberalize trade in goods. It also has duty-free access to the Australian and New Zealand markets under the South Pacific Agreement on Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation (SPARTECA). It is a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) with Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to eliminate tariffs on trade between themselves. It is currently negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU through the Pacific configuration.

Multilateral

Vanuatu is an observer in the WTO. Its accession package was approved in October 2001 but the Government of Vanuatu has suspended the process

Source: Commonwealth Yearbook 2005, UNCTAD, World Fact Book, WTO Secretariat