From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 15, no. 3, September 2000.

BioTechnology can be used to produce new products from Tonga’s agriculture and fisheries, and it may help Tonga maintain its claim to niche markets that it has initiated in Japan, said Dr Kyosuke Owa, a Japanese scientist working for the Nano Merchandise Development Co. Ltd. in Nuku’alofa.

Through an interpretor, he pointed to the squash market as an  example of a niche market for Tonga, but over the years it has been slowly disappearing because of over production by bigger producers such as Mexico, New Zealand and the USA. He said that if Tonga took the initiative to produce a by-product from squash and to find a niche market for it, then it would secure a market for its squash industry in future.

Owa, who has been in Tonga since 1996, has successfully patented a medicinal drink he made from seaweed extractions. He claimed that the drink could cure 14 diseases, including cancer, high blood pressure, allergies, diabetes, liver problems, and it could restore fallen hair.

Owa is now working on the Hawaiian sweet potato. Nano exports seaweed and processed Hawaiian sweet potato to Japan. Owa had nearly completed a process of extracting flavour and colours, which he hoped to patent, before selling his secret to a Japanese company for the manufacturing of products, including ice cream, cakes and drinks.