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In state hands during the Communist era, the much of Czech Republic's agricultural and industrial sectors was relatively quickly privatized and showed appreciable growth in the early 1990s. Foreign investment was widely sought. An economic slowdown beginning in 1997, however, revealed problems in the transition from government control to a privatized economy, as many large industrial conglomerates with thousands of employees lost money and sought government aid instead of revamping. In 1999–2000 most of the state-owned banks were privatized, with the government assuming responsibility for bad loans.
The chief crops are corn, sugar beets, potatoes, wheat, barley, and rye. Among the country's livestock are hogs, cattle, sheep, and poultry. Manufacturing is the chief economic activity, especially the production of automobiles, machine tools, and machinery. Iron and steel industries are important in Moravia. Other industries include metalworking, chemicals, electronics, and glass. The republic's rather scant natural resources include coal, timber, and uranium. The largest trading partners are Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Poland, and Hungary; recent efforts have increased trade with many Western countries.
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