in May 1997, following the adoption of the new constitution, 75 members of the PFDJ Central Committee (the old Central Committee of the EPLF), 60 members of the 527-member Constituent Assembly which had been established in 1997 to discuss and ratify the new constitution, and 15 representatives of Eritreans living abroad were formed into a Transitional National Assembly to serve as the country's legislative body until country-wide elections to a National Assembly are held; only 75 members will be elected to the National Assembly - the other 75 will be members of the Central Committee of the PFDJ; parliamentary elections are now scheduled for NA December 2001
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; 10 provincial courts; 29 district courts
Political parties and leaders: People's Front for Democracy and
Justice or PFDJ, the only party recognized by the government [ISAIAS
Afworki, PETROS Solomon]; note - the National Assembly has appointed
a committee to draft a law on political parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: Eritrean Islamic Jihad or
EIJ; Eritrean Liberation Front or ELF [ABDULLAH Muhammed]; Eritrean
Liberation Front-Revolutionary Council or ELF-RC [Ahmed NASSER];
Eritrean Liberation Front-United Organization or ELF-UO [Mohammed
Said NAWD]
International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO,
IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat
(nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
GIRMA Asmerom
chancery: 1708 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 319–1991
FAX: [1] (202) 319–1304
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
William D. CLARKE
embassy: Franklin D. Roosevelt Street, Asmara
mailing address: P. O. Box 211, Asmara
telephone: [291] (1) 120004
FAX: [291] (1) 127584
Flag description: red isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) dividing the flag into two right triangles; the upper triangle is green, the lower one is blue; a gold wreath encircling a gold olive branch is centered on the hoist side of the red triangle
Eritrea Economy
Economy - overview: With independence from Ethiopia on 24 May 1993, Eritrea faced the economic problems of a small, desperately poor country. The economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture, with 80% of the population involved in farming and herding. The small industrial sector consists mainly of light industries with outmoded technologies. Domestic output (GDP) is substantially augmented by worker remittances from abroad. Government revenues come from custom duties and taxes on income and sales. Road construction is a top domestic priority. In the long term, Eritrea may benefit from the development of offshore oil, offshore fishing, and tourism. 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. Eritrea's agriculture over the last two years was severely weakened by war and drought, and many farmlands must wait to be demined. Another major difficulty is the ports, which prior to the war were Ethiopia's preferred outlets but since have seen trade dry up.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $2.9 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: −1% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $710 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 16%
industry: 27%
services: 57% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 14% (2000 est.)
Labor force: NA
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 80%, industry and services 20%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues: $283.9 million
expenditures: $351.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)
Industries: food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 165 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption: 153.5 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh NA kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh NA kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products: sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish
Exports: $26 million (f.o.b., 1999)
Exports - commodities: livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures
Exports - partners: Sudan 27.2%, Ethiopia 26.5%, Japan 13.2%, UAE 7.3%, Italy 5.3% (1998)
Imports: $560 million (c.i.f., 1999)
Imports - commodities: machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods
Imports - partners: Italy 17.4%, UAE 16.2%, Germany 5.7%, UK 4.5%,
Korea 4.4% (1998)
Debt - external: $281 million (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $77 million (1999)
Currency: nakfa (ERN)
Currency code: ERN
Exchange rates: nakfa per US dollar = 9.5 (January 2000), 7.6
