Economy of the Oan Isles

Economy of The Oan Isles

Clockwise:the largest and busiest container port - Port of Tauranga a te Toka - and the central business district in the background, the largest and busiest airport - Tokapa International Airport, the Waikato Hydroelectric Dam, the Kokorutaone Nuclear Power Plant, Tokapa to Tauranga a te Toka Magnetic Levitation Train, one of the Anapa Public Electric Buses
Currency	Kirib
Statistics
Population	18,625,000
GDP	788,768,750,000 KRB
GDP rank	13th in UNAC
GDP growth	4%
GDP per capita	42,350 KRB
GDP per capita rank	7th in UNAC
GDP by sector	Minerals (15%), Agriculture (5%), Manufacturing (35%) and Services (45%)
Inflation (CPI)	2%
Population below poverty line	negligible
Gini coefficient	0.350
Sapient Development Index	0.850
Labour force	12,745,000 people
Unemployment	2.5%
External
Exports	120 billion KRB
Export goods	Integrated circuits, scientific apparata, telecommunications equipment, natural gas, petroleum, fish, timber, tropical fruit, polished and cut gemstones
Main export partners	Kuthernburg, Great Morstaybishlia, Tuvaltastan, Peregrinia, Axdel, Dragonia, Volkia
Imports	119 billion KRB
Import goods	Motor vehicles, heavy machinery, ferrous and rare earth metals, cereals, meat, wine, Hobstiberry, Pacel Soap
Main import partners	Kuthernburg, Great Morstaybishlia, Tuvaltastan, Peregrinia, Axdel, Dragonia,Volkia, Packilvania, South Hills, Ayaupia
Public finances
Public debt	720 billion KRB
Budget balance	1 billion KRB
Revenues	121 billion KRB
Expenses	120 billion KRB
Economic aid	5 billion KRB
Foreign reserves	96 billion KRB
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in Kiribs.

The economy of the Oan Isles is a developed upper-middle income post-industrial economy. With a nominal GDP of 788,768,750,000 KRB, it is the 13th richest country in the United Nations of the Auroran Continent. At 42,350 KRB, the nominal GDP per capita makes the Oan Isles the 7th wealthiest country in the UNAC. Combining elements of Socialist planning and social safety as well as free trade and protection of private property, the economy takes place in the framework of a mixed economy. The government was praised by the Auroran Monetary Fund for its prudent management of the economy.

Primary sector

Mining

The Oan Isles mineral extraction and processing industry is known largely for natural gas and petroleum and to a lesser extent cut gem stones. Although a notoriously resource poor island nation, the country does have economically viable mineral deposits of ferrous metals.

The Oan Isles' natural gas and petroleum deposits are concentrated entirely in the Greater Gemica Oil and Gas Reef. Following the Kohatu War and the subsequent annexation of the Kohatu Isles by the Oan Isles, Oan Oil (Oan Petroleum Company) began natural gas and petroleum exploration. Upon discovering economically viable reserves, it established a joint venture called Greater Gemica Oil and Gas Ltd. with Royal Caven Petroleum, a company from Peregrinia. The portion of the joint venture owned by the Oan government was acquired by the Kohatu Sovereign Wealth Fund in 2019.

The Kohatu Isles has substantial deposits of semi-precious and precious gem stones. Exports are fairly modest, but the country benefits from a native cutting and polishing industry.

Vendaz, a company originally from Great Morstaybishlia, operates the Aorakau, Kaupapa, Maui, Tokamoana, Weka and Papa iron ore mines. It dominates the Oan ferrous metals ore industry.

Agriculture and related sectors

Although the Oan Isles is a net importer of food, the Oan agriculture industry produces 60% of the country’s basic food needs with less than 5% of its labour force. The farming sector maintains modest exports of tropical fruits (such as lichi, tamarind, dragon fruit etc) and palm-tree products.

The fishing industry is by far the largest component of the agriculture sector and its highest source of exports. Due to its warm nutrition rich waters, the country is a major producer of saltwater fisheries such as shrimp, crabs, lobster, and shellfish. Due to diminishing supplies of fish resources, quotas have been instituted to prevent depletion, sending the sector into decline. Furthermore, the Oan government banned the harvesting of corals, abalone, and the hunting of whales, permanently diminishing the fishing sector. Nevertheless, the fishing sector is the main domestic supplier of the Oan Isles' food needs.

The forestry sector, once an economic force, is well past its heyday and relies on state subsidies. Taking advantage of the Oan Isles' wealth of natural forests, the sector was once a major supplier of timber. However, the government placed severe restrictions on logging to reduce deforestation and to reduce the floods and landslides that it precipitated.

Manufacturing sector

Relative to its geographic size and despite its lack of natural resources, the Oan manufacturing sector is the proverbial engine of the Oan economy and remains the biggest employer and contributor to foreign exchange earnings.

Integrated circuits are the largest part of the Oan manufacturing sector. The country is the home and birthplace of the largest semi conductor and integrated circuits manufacturer in the world, Metatron Corporation. The country is among the leading centres for research and development in integrated circuitry. Founded in 1985 by Basiloy Modvenovich, Casey Burnham, Darryl McKinsey and Atawhai Taumata, Metatron has also delved into modest electronics manufacturing largely for showcasing its microchip production capabilities such as the Arana virtual assistant running on Sonic speakers in 2021 and the Tupuni touchscreen smartphone in 2018. The company is the main producer of microchips for the biggest tech companies in the world: Cluster, Primrose, Damehowe, ICM and many others.

The Oan car manufacturing industry is modest but profitable and self sufficient. Velox Motors, an automobile manufacturing company from Volkia, operates a car assembly and distribution centre in the Oan Isles. It uses the Oan Isles to enter the Auroran market and overcome import barriers imposed by the UNAC customs and trade agreements.

The country maintains an arms manufacturing sector largely for domestic use by the Oan Defence Forces. Oan Arms is a state owned company responsible for the production and assembly of handguns, hand-held rocket launchers, self propelled and towed artillery and other military assets. The country jointly produced the Silent Killer unmanned aerial combat vehicle used by the ODF in combat during the Auroran-Pacific War with the Kuthernburg armed manufacturer known as KAE Systems plc. The sector struggles to make substantial exports due to a lack of research and development, mostly focusing on assembly and manufacturing. The Oan Isles' only shipbuilding company, Oan Shipyards was sold to KAE Systems plc in 2017 and it assembles vessels, helping KAE avoid UNAC tarrif barriers.

Services sector

Information technology

The Oan information and communication technology (ICT) sector is among the largest and most innovative in the world. The sector benefits from the combination of high incomes, favorable working conditions, effortless skilled-worker immigration policies, highly developed infrastructure, a nurturing regulatory environment, accessible start-up financing, robust intellectual property laws and proximity to highly renowned and innovative institutions of higher learning and education such as the University of Tokapa. The government aims to promote the Oan Isles as a global technology capital by attracting foreign companies to set up hubs through the High Tech and Innovation Act of 2021 which provides among other things tax breaks, regulatory exemptions, and sets up a panel to monitor and advise the state on technology innovation policy. Although not exclusively geared to the ICT sector, it benefits from such legislation nonetheless.

Cafe Net is an internet services provider founded by Etuariti Takatunuye in 2002. This company provides services such as cloud computing, social media, software development and internet browsing. It was acquired by Damehowe for 18 billion KRB. It is one of the largest internet browsing and search engine providers in the world as its browser and search engine are automatically available on all Damehowe devices and operating systems. The company also produces and manages systems for the government of the Oan Isles such as the National Local Initiative System and the National Online Totem Register.

Café Pay is a mobile and online payments portal started by Etuariti Takatunuye in 2008. It was spun off from Cafe Net. It generates 28 billion KRB in revenue and manages over 1 trillion KRB in mobile and online transactions. It is automatically available to users of Damehowe and Cafe Net products, the platform access to over 1 billion users. The company has reported approximately 120 million active users. As of 2021, Café Pay is embroiled in a dispute with the Auroran Central Bank due to issues surrounding its virtual cash application.

Financial services

The financial services sector is regulated by the Oan Central Bank. The Oan financial services sector is highly developed and innovative. The country has robust traditional financial sectors such as insurance and banking. Furthermore, it has leveraged its highly developed information technology industry to become leader in the decentralised finance space.

Standard National Bank is the largest commercial bank in the country. It was originally founded as the Tekeha Merchant Bank wholly owned by the Tekeha Merchant Guild in 1820. It grew into the Tekeha Banking Consortium. Due to its dealings with the Great Morstaybishlian governor of the Morstaybishlian West Pacific Territories and instigator of the Second Morsto-Oan War Lord Admiral Lusegart in 1855, the company was seized by the state and its assets sold by the government of Rangitake the Great to raise revenue for the state.

The Hupirimu family bought and reestablished the Tekeha Banking Consortium as Standard National Bank in 1868. The bank expanded to mainland Aurora and had its initial public offering at the Sani Bursil Stock Exchange in 1926. It acquired Richard Brothers (a bank from Caltharus) in 1945 and Ivarovna Family Bank (from Tuvaltastan) in 1957. As of 2021, SNB raised 25 billion KRB in revenue and manages assets worth 230 billion KRB.

One of the great leaps in decentralised finance was in 2021, when Etuariti Takatunuye, founder of Cafe Pay and Cafe Net announced the establishment of the Lumen blockchain. The initial coin offering (ICO) of the Lux cryptocurrency raised 100 million KRB in its first 12 hours, making it the largest ICO ever. In total, the ICO raised 450 million KRB.

The Oan financial services sector also boasts the largest tax advisory, accountancy and auditing professional services network in the world, Ita Marama, which was founded in 1961 by Edwin Ita and Kaha Marama. Following the independence of Tivot from Salovia in 1975, they were enlisted by founding Chief Executive Eliri Drzevili to advise the government of Tivot on the formation of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) corporate tax tools now known as the Tivot Sandwich to make Tivot among the foremost financial centres in the world. Despite controversy surrounding the ethics of the tax avoidance strategies that they developed, it is one of the crowning achievements of the Oan tax advisory industry.

Tourism

The Oan Isles has a robust tourism sector. It benefits from the free movement of people among member states of the UNAC who are its largest sources of tourists. The country benefits from warm, pleasant, sunny weather, beautiful white sandy beaches, clear seas, abundant rainforests and iconic natural vistas, luxurious resorts and hotels and shopping experiences.

JV Marine World Parks & Entertainment, a property development company from Kuthernburg, built the Marine World Ocean Kingdom water theme park and resort in Anapa, the largest in the country and a major source of domestic and international tourism. The project was initially announced in 2018 and has been opened on phases with the last phase expected to open in 2022. The project faced delays due to environmental concerns by the Green Party of the Oan Isles as well as concerns about the request for the resort to be an incorporated city administered by JV. To circumvent legal restraints, an amendment to the Local Government Act was proposed to allow for the creation of such a city by giving the executive the power to amend local governments by decree (a power historically reserved for the legislature). Concerns over the act led to the passage of the JV Marine World Independent Incorporation Act, a compromise law that would create a jointly administered area under the Anapa Local Government.

Infrastructure

As an island nation, the primary mode of transport is by air and sea. Thus, there are several small airports and seaports connecting the country. The largest airport is the Tokapa International Airport on the island of Tokamotu. The port of Tauranga a te Toka is among the busiest container ports in the Auroran region. The main form of land transportation is by rail or bus. Because of the mountainous terrain, the construction of roads is challenging and expensive. Furthermore, the high population density in habitable areas of the country results in congestion and high air pollution. Thus, the country has prioritized public transport as the main form of transport. The fastest rail line is the Tokapa to Tauranga a te Toka maglev line at around 400km per hour. On average a commute in any of the 8 major Home Islands takes 40 minutes or less.

The Oan Isles is a net energy exporter and has a healthy energy mix. Fossil fuels, nuclear energy and hydroelectric power provide a roughly equal share of the nation's energy needs. Because the country is prone to flooding due to monsoon storms, the nation has an extensive network of canals and levees to mitigate the effects of high rainfall. Due to its small area, the country does not have large natural lakes. Thus, rain-fed artificial reservoirs provide most of the country’s water needs. High rates of urbanisation have led to a high concentration of water delivery infrastructure. Jointly with Great Morstaybishlia, the country is undertaking a Four Year Infrastructure Investment Initiative.

Trade

As a member of the Kirib Monetary Union, the Oan Isles shares the kirib with 14 Auroran countries. The kirib facilitates ease of cross-border payments, but Anti-kirib critics have argued that relatively high value of 1 to 1 parity with the South Hills makes Oan low-value-added export goods uncompetitive. As a member of the UNAC, the movement of goods, services, capital and people among member states is free - lowering the cost of cross-border investments and trade. Thus the bloc collectively comprises the largest trading partner of the Oan Isles. On a per country basis, the largest source of imports and destination for exports is Great Morstaybishlia (at around 30% of total trade volumes) followed (in no particular order) by Tuvaltastan, Dragonia, Axdel, Peregrinia, and Kuthernburg.

The Oan Isles is heavily export dependent. About half of its productive output is exported overseas. Despite having a healthy mix of sectors and advantageous trade relations, it remains vulnerable to global demand as domestic consumption is inadequate to fuel its economy. Major export goods include integrated circuits, natural gas, petroleum, polished and cut gemstones, fish, timber, tropical fruits, robotics, aeronautical equipment, telecommunications equipment, computers, and scientific apparata. Total exports stand at 120.250 billion KRB. Major import goods include vehicles, heavy machin, cereal, meat, wine, and microchips, semiconductors, ferrous and rare earth metalsood. Total imports stand at 118.500 billion KRB. Thus, the Oan Isles maintains a trae surplus of 1.750 billion KRB.

Investment

By far the two largest sources and destinations of Foreign direct investment are Great Morstaybishlia and Kuthernburg.

Great Morstaybishlia

In 2020, the Oan government started the Four Year Infrastructure Development Initiative which would make at least 20 billion KRB of investments over a four years period into the Morstaybishlian West Pacific Territories. In 2017, Metatron Corporation the started pouring billions to build a planned settlement in Valeria to which it migrated its consumer electronics production.

Kuthernburg

On 18 May 2017, it was announced that the Oan Isles signed comprehensive investment and economic cooperation agreements with Kuthernburg, Atiland and Latianburg. This agreement is credited with ushering a period of mutual investment between Kuthern and Oan public and private institutions.

Oan corporations such as OANCOM, a major telecommunications company, which received a large market share of the Kuthern telecommunications market while gaining a natural monopoly over internet communications in the Atiland and Latian markets. Oan internet services company Cafe Net, established a regional office at the Kuthern World Trade Centre and became a major provider of internet services in that country. On September 2017, Kuthern investment in the construction of flood management infrastructure like levees and dykes was instrumental in preventing widespread economic damage and loss of life from Cyclone Mable. The Oan Isles has attempted to use its political leverage to affect military outcomes, for instance, on 13 August 2017, Tipene Rahua, unsuccessfully asked global financial markets such as Kuthernburg to use their kirib foreign currency reserves to force Ethalria into a financial crisis.

On 12 October 2017, it was announced that the Oan Shipwrights Company, a public company which developed and produced components for marine vessels such as submarines and naval ships, had been sold to the Kuthern company KAE Systems plc for 2 billion KRB. This sale arose from the loss of income due to the reorientation of the procurement priorities of the Oan Defence Force which is alleged to have led to its collapse and subsequent sale to the Kutherns. Non-profit initiatives such as the Water Project, a water distribution project for low income nations started by Arana Marama, benefited from non-commercial projects which helped them provide water management technology and infrastructure in and beyond the Oan Isles.

On 13 July 2018, it was announced that JV Marine World Parks & Entertainment from Kuthernburg would construct the JV Marine World Kingdom a massive waterfront resort in the city of Anapa. Despite complications, the deal was brought to fruition and work has been ongoing since, with the park opening in stages. Increased tourism income and contracts to Oan construction companies has boosted the local economy tremendously..

Volkia

Velox Motors, a company from Volkia constructed a vehicle assembly plant in Tauranga a te Toka, the Oan Isles. This project aims to circumvent the export tariffs that make exporting vehicles directly from Volkia expensive for the company. The project has benefited the country in providing jobs and foreign exchange.

New Leganes

Many Oan businesses have set up shop in New Leganes. Oan investments in New Leganes are valued at over 4.75 billion KRB. This includes the Serene Waterfront property development which consists of shopping malls and other facilities along the Privetia Taurillien waterfront. Taking advantage of the central location of the country in the Concordian Ocean, many Oan businesses have warehouses, shops and other facilities there.

Public Finances and debt

The Minister of Finance of the Oan Isles, currently Kia Uye - of the Pacifist Party of the Oan Isles - is responsible for overseeing the government finances and her department also advises the government on economic planning. In 2021, the Department reported that the Oan Isles a debt to GDP ratio of 80% (630 billion KRB). Most of this debt is owed to Oan institutions and is denominated in kiribs, the Oan Isles currency. Furthermore, high rates of economic growth and savings as well as consistent budget surpluses have allowed the Oan Isles to curb national debt. Moreover, the Oan Isles is also a major debt provider to other nations, holding over 1 trillion KRB in foreign debt assets. About Most national debt goes into mortgages, infrastructure, and financing the expansion or creation of companies. Thus, national debt has fuelled the growth of the Oan economy and has resulted in long-term gains for the Oan Isles.

Nevertheless, curbing debt is a major priority for the Oan government. Major foreign debt sources are South Hills and Great Morstaybishlia. The largest foreign private holder of Oan debt is LabiaTurtle Bank from Blueacia. An example of The Oan Isles' foreign debt policy is South Hills. In 2017, South Hills entered into a major agreement to borrow billions from South Hills, but the debt to budget ratio is capped, such that the Oan Isles never pays more than a certain portion of its budget. Economists believe the debt will take centuries to pay back. Total government expenditure sits at 236.4 billion KRB (30% of the economy). Most of this is spent on education, healthcare, pensions, welfare, infrastructure and the military. The government's revenues comprise 70% taxes and 30% dividend income, especially from the petroleum and natural gas sector. Yet, taxes remain high, with the highest bracket of households on an income basis paying up to 40% of their income in tax and the wealthiest companies paying 30% of their income in taxes. Nevertheless, the people benefit from high standards of living and companies benefit from long-term stability and an excellent return on their investment.

Sea also

• Economy of the UNAC