Pacific Sunrise Fishing scaling down locally-owned enterprise
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 - 20:33
Pacific Sunrise Fishing, Tonga’s only locally-owned commercial deep sea fishing exporter, is scaling down its operation in Tonga, "and to start sellling some of the assets that we have, like boats and things like that," Eddie Palu said on January 4. He told Matangi Tonga of his concern over a decision by government for the 2018 Foreign Exchange Control Act to become effective on 1 November 2018. By Pesi Fonua.
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Very sad to see those with
Very sad to see those with knowledge and experience in this industry leave Tonga. Government policies for many years have really let the local fishing sector down. But to those leaving, it is fair enough because this poorly made law is making it difficult for many people.
There are a lot of influences on foreign exchange market, and it has little to do with how much locals have overseas, it may be a lot to individuals but probably not that much compared to the foreign exchange market. If locals sold their foreign assets it probably will not make a dent if there is decline due to the next global recession for example. And what are the economic studies related to this law? Will government cover potential losses for private individuals abiding by this law? What about Government's foreign assets and accounts? It seems when authorities aren't quite sure of what to do they reach for the panic button and over-regulate the economy. I think the Reserve Bank (if this is their bill) and lawmakers should go back to the basics and focus on the underlying problems in the economy. Understand what investors want and make the necessary reforms to attract investment.
If lawmakers came up with this law it would worry investors what other kinds of laws they might come up with in the future, most worrying of all is because private property rights are now a target. This would be a huge deterrent to foreign and local investors.