A complete description of the services provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Social Affairs and Culture. is available in Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF format. Select the icon below to view the PDF, or right-click to save the file for later offline viewing. Ministry of Economic Affairs PDF 4 pages 9KB		The currency is the Aruban Florin, which is pegged to the United States dollar. Tourism, which contributes nearly 38% of the GDP, 70% of total experts and 35 % of employment is the main economic activity in Aruba. Our tourism industry has shown impressive results as compared to other destinations in the Caribbean. The boom in our tourism industry is the result of a great effort by the Government in close cooperation with the private sector and with the support of the Aruban people. Aruba offers its white sand beaches, comfortable shopping malls, nightlife, a great hospitality of the Aruban citizens, and safety. The Government is actively promoting telecommunications, the development of the financial service industry, as well as the freezone of Aruba. A particularly positive aspect of the Aruban economy is that inflation remains under control at a level consistent with reasonable price stability. The latest official data indicating an average increase in consumer price inflation (CPI) of only 3.1% in 1997. In 1994 the Government realized that the economic development in Aruba was largely concentrated in the western part of the island. In order to promote the economic development in the eastern part of Aruba, the Government started a project called "The Sasaki Development Plan". This Development Plan is an equitable growth model developed for the region of San Nicolas. It includes an ambitious investment program related mainly to infrastructure, road and housing projects. The investment needed to develop the eastern areas will be financed by both private and Government funds. The Government has succeeded in maintaining economic growth of 5% annually, in order to prevent an overheated economy. The Government has managed to reduce the inflation in Aruba to approximately 3% annually. In addition, unemployment is practically non-existent and the outlook for the future is favorable. Send E-mail inquiries to: Ministry of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Social Affairs, and Culture