Pacific 2000 Trade Fair bigger and better [1]
Monday, March 20, 2000 - 11:00. Updated on Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - 12:08.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 15, no. 1, March 2000.
The Pasifiki 2000 Trade Fair the biggest Trade fair to be held in Tonga, is the success story of something that started small four years ago.
There were 66 booths at the fair with exhibitors from the Cook Islands, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Australia and, Tonga.
Paul Karalus, chairman of the organising committee, said that the two main lessons that Tonga should learn from this year’s fair is that Tonga had to get into its manufacturing industry seriously. “Nonu is a good example of how an ordinary local product could be processed, packaged and marketed.”
Paul stressed that there were plenty of other Tongan products, which could be marketed overseas if they are packaged properly.
Encouraging production and trading among Pacific island countries would make a reality of regional free trade and embrace the world free trade concept.
The Trade Fair was initiated by Venusi Taumoepeau in 1997, but this year’s trade fair was taken up by a partnership between government, which was represented by Tonga Trade and the Tonga Visitors Bureau, and the private sector.