Strong chemical and petrochemical industries. Electrical engineering sector, textiles and wood processing industries. Highly skilled labor force.
Tourism is an important foreign currency earner.
Weaknesses Lacks natural resources. Reliant on imported raw materials, particularly oil and gas. Process of introducing greater competition and deregulation has been slow. Some services, notably tourism, are highly sophisticated and profitable, although tourism receipts have been down in recent years. A recession in the early 1990s was reversed by a rapid increase in exports to eastern Europe and Germany and by increased domestic demand.