Results for Business

A one million pa'anga grant fund for tourism and manufacturing business development was launched by the Tonga government in Neiafu, Vava‘u on 20 September, and again in Nuku‘alofa on 23 September 2013.

New fuel prices announced for September-October will see a decrease in the price of petrol for the first time in months. Prices for diesel and kerosene, however, continue to rise.

Leta Havea Kami has been appointed as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Tonga Development Bank (TDB) and the first woman to take up the position, effective from September 2.

The Westpac Bank of Tonga closed down its branches in Ha‘apai and ‘Eua as it teams up with the Tonga Development Bank to deliver its banking services to customers in both the outer islands, effective today September 2.

The Tonga Energy Road Map (TERM), an agency that was established by the Tongan Cabinet in 2011 to implement Tonga's ten-year multi-million renewable energy planning, has not come under the government's budget for 2013-14.

Tonga’s high speed internet goes live on Wednesday, August 21, with the commissioning by King Tupou VI of the project at the Tonga Cable Ltd station in Sopu.

A top priority for Tonga is a reduction in the size of its public service and a reduction of the wage bill to 45%, from the current height of about 75% of the government's annual budget, a new economic report by the Asian Development Bank recommends. It also recommended for government to appoint an Anti-corruption Commissioner.

Tonga's petroleum prices for mid-July to mid-August will increase significantly compared to June, continuing a trend of rising petroleum prices since April.

A new commercial bank, the Pacific International Commercial Bank, was awarded a license to operate by the National Reserve Bank of Tonga on July 2, and is expected to open in about six months time as the fifth bank in Tonga.