The sector plays a vital role in providing job opportunities at the tertiary level, where Barbados has a growing pool of talent. Barbados has outstanding competitive advantages in the provision of international business and financial services. Some are the gift of nature, like our climate, our beaches, the ocean around us.
The strengthening of economic activity in the euro area in the second half of 1999 was confirmed by a first estimate of euro area real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 1999. Real GDP is estimated to have increased by 0.9% quarter-on-quarter, following an increase of 1.0% in the previous quarter.