North African cuisine contains many elements of African and Mediterranean cultures, with other factors shaping food consumption preference, including trading networks and the region's colonial heritage. Given the prevalence of Islam in the region, pork is marginalised; instead, lamb and fish are widely consumed. Couscous is also part of the staple diet across the region. While governments across the region have traditionally supported consumption through subsidies, Morocco has put an end to these policies in recent years, in a bid to reduce budget shortfalls. For now, food subsidies remain in place in Algeria, although the low oil price environment will continue to constrain government revenues and could result in subsidy cuts over the coming years.

Thailand's ICT sector is one of the most competitive and well developed within the ASEAN region; for example, broadband and mobile penetration is higher in Thailand than in any other ASEAN country besides Malaysia and Singapore. Thailand also has a vibrant and highly competitive broadcasting industry which has been enhanced recently with the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting ("DTTB") in 2014, although government broadcasters still account for a significant share of the market. Consumers and businesses in Thailand have also been increasingly aware of the benefits of digital technologies, and this has spurred demand in the postal and courier services, and the software and ICT services subsectors.

In 2018, Croatian Chamber of Commerce conducted a national survey of dietary habits the country. The survey found that per capita consumption of meat and fish in Croatia was among the lowest in the EU. Podravka is one of the largest conglomerates in the country, as well as regionally, with production facilities located in Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as most recently in the US. In March 2018, Poland-based Enterprise Investors signed an agreement to acquire a 65% stake in Croatian baked goods company Pan Pek. New owners plan to invest in an expansion of Pan Pek's retail operations.

Croatia approved a legal framework for the exploration of oil and the production of oil and gas in 2013. The Hydrocarbons Exploration and Production Act (ZIEU) framework was aligned with EU oil and gas regulations. An updated Hydrocarbons Law was approved in 2018. The Mining Act (ZR), which also came into effect in 2013, is another key regulatory framework governing the oil and gas sector.

The Czech Republic's highly developed food market is one of the most mature in the region. The meat and dairy sectors lead the processing industry, followed by edible oils and fruits and vegetables, with the food-processing industry accounting for more than 15% of the country's industrial output.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is the central state agency that deals with policy regarding the use of mineral resources, energy, gas, mining, crude oil and trade. The Ministry of the Environment enforces environmental laws in the mining sector and has the right to revoke exploration and mining leases if laws are violated.

The wood, paper and furniture industry is one of the key sectors of the Polish economy, its combined gross value added stood at PLN 37.57bn in 2016, which represented 2% of the GDP. The gross output of the three sub-sectors stood for around 6.5% of the country’s GDP in 2016. In the same year, it also accounted for 12.5% of employment in manufacturing and 2.5% of total employment in the Polish economy. The industry, supplied with wood by the forestry and logging sector, itself has three subsectors, which we shall refer to as “wood & wood products” (see p.9 for a more detailed definition), “paper & paper products”, and “furniture production”. Their joint share in Poland's total exports in 2017 was 10.8% in 2017. The most important subsector in terms of exports is furniture: Poland had a 5% share in global furniture exports in 2016 (and is the world's sixth-biggest furniture maker). Poland is also the EU’s seventh-biggest paper producer.

The total premiums in Poland’s insurance sector in 2017 stood at PLN 62.4bn or 3.1% of GDP. This share inched up by 0.1 pp in 2017 after two years of stagnation. The sector is important for the economy, both as a provider of jobs (it employs more than 250,000 persons) and as a substantial investor in both treasury instruments and private companies, with assets totalling PLN 196.6bn at the end of 2017, up by 6.2% y/y.

Agriculture plays an important role in the economic and rural development of Indonesia. It generates over 13% of Indonesia’s GDP and is the country’s biggest employer, providing work to a third of the labour force. The sector satisfies the need for food of 261mn Indonesian citizens and about 13mn tourists every year. Agricultural land covers a third of the country’s territory. Indonesia is among the top world producers of palm oil, natural rubber, cocoa, coffee and rice. Indonesia’s long tradition of fishing and fish-rich waters make it one of the world’s most important fish and seafood producers.

In 2017, Colombia’s banking sector continued to demonstrate resilience to tepid GDP growth, posting annual growth rates of 9% and 6% for total loans and total assets (measured in COP) respectively. In particular, mortgage loans experienced considerable expansion. In the context of weaker economic growth, profit margins decreased and delinquencies increased throughout the sector; however, solvency and liquidity remained high. Continuing efforts by banks and regulatory authorities to comply with the Basel III Framework have contributed to the robustness the sector has shown in recent years. At the start of 2018, the loan portfolio continued rising with consumer loans posting a real annualised growth of 4.6% at the end of Q1 2018, doubling the rate of real GDP growth of 2.2% of the same period. According to estimates by the Central Bank, bank loans are expected to increase by 12% y/y in nominal terms and total assets are forecast to expand by 11.5% y/y in 2018.