Economy of Samoa

The economy of Samoa is dependent on agricultural exports, development aid and private financing from overseas. The country is vulnerable to devastating storms, earthquakes, tsunamis. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labor force, and furnishes 9% of exports, featuring coconut cream, coconut oil and copra. Outside a large automotive wire harness factory, the manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products. Tourism is an expanding sector; more than 70,000 tourists visited the islands in 1996 and 120,000 in 2014.^[4] The Samoan Government has called for^[when?] deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline. Observers point to the flexibility of the labor market as a basic strength factor for future economic advances.^{[citation needed]}