Outside a large automotive wire harness factory, the manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products.

Observers point to the flexibility of the labor market as a basic strength factor for future economic advances.

[citation needed] New Zealand is Samoa's principal trading partner, typically providing between 35% and 40% of imports and purchasing 45%–50% of exports.

The primary sector (agriculture, forestry, and fishing) employs nearly two-thirds of the labor force and produces 17% of GDP.

[5] Fishing has had some success in Samoan waters, but the biggest fisheries industry (headed by Van Camp and StarKist) has been based in American Samoa.

In addition to the expatriate community, Samoa also receives roughly $28 million annually in official development assistance from sources led by China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

Potlatch invested about US$2,500,000 in a state-of-the-art sawmill and another US$6,000,000 over several years to develop power, water, and haul roads for their facility.

The largest industrial venture was Yazaki Samoa, a Japanese-owned company processing automotive wire harnesses for export to Australia under a concessional market-access arrangement.

Long-run development depends upon upgrading the tourist infrastructure, attracting foreign investment, and further diversification of the economy.

These experiences and Samoa's position as a low-lying island state punctuate its concern about global climate change.

Polynesian Airlines reached a financial crisis in 1994, which disrupted the tourist industry and eventually required a government bailout.

[citation needed] The government responded to these shocks with a major program of road building and post-cyclone infrastructure repair.

Forced to look for alternatives to taro, Samoa's exporters have dramatically increased the production of copra, coconut oil, and fish.

Arrivals increased in 2000, as visitors to the South Pacific avoided the political strife in Fiji by traveling to Samoa instead.