A rubber tapper's child
Courtesy Paige W. Thompson

Industry, including manufacturing, mining, energy, transportation, and construction, accounted for around 38 percent of GNP in 1986. The most iÍÍÍÍmportant products included refined oil, textiles, gems, and processed agricultural products. Construction and tourism both grew rapidly in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but contracted after the onset of ethnic violence in 1983. State-owned corporations accounted for over 50 percent of total industrial output. An investment promotion zone was established in 1979 with the goal of attracting foreign capital textile factories accounted for a large proportion of investment there in its early years. The island's electricity supply was mainly fueled by hydropower (see Energy , this ch.).

Data as of October 1988