Cape Verde economic performance was bolstered by one of the fastest growing tourism industries in the world, as well as by substantial capital inflows that allowed Cape Verde to build up national currency reserves to the current 3.5 months of imports. Unemployment has been falling rapidly, and the country is on track to achieve most of the UN Millennium Development Goals – including halving its 1990 poverty level. In 2007, Cape Verde joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in 2008 the country graduated from Least Developed Country (LDC) to Middle Income Country (MIC) status. Cape Verde has significant cooperation with Portugal
Cape Verde–Guinea-Bissau relations Cape Verde–Guinea-Bissau relations Cape Verde–Guinea Bissau relations refers to the bilateral relationship between the Republic of Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) and the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. Cape Verde is an island country about 900 km north-west of Guinea-Bissau, a coastal West African country. Both were colonies of the Portuguese Empire and they campaigned together for independence with a plan for unification, but the countries separated after 1980. The area on the mainland under Portuguese rule now containing Guinea-Bissau was originally called "Guiné de Cabo Verde". Cape Verde was a site of transit in the slave trade from Guinea-Bissau to the Americas.