Some coffee is grown for export.
The country has considerable, though largely untapped, reserves of tin, lead and zinc, as well as iron ore, coal and timber. Economic reforms began in the early 1990s and included an extensive programme of privatisation. These initially attracted the support of the IMF but the government's failure to meet successive financial targets led to a withdrawal of the Fund's support in 1998. Since then, a mild recovery has taken place but the economic prospects are still uncertain. Laos is a member of the Asian Development Bank and the Colombo Plan, which promotes economic and social development in Asia and the Pacific.