A two-day Holiday Market Festival Thursday and Friday, at the Tonga Development Bank in Nuku'alofa showcased products of the bank's customers in a Microfinance Scheme and attracted Christmas shoppers.

Selling beautiful handicrafts, mats, ta’ovala, carvings, pearls and other products were groups from Vava'u, 'Eua, Ha'apai and rural villages in Tongatapu.

Leta Kami, TDB CEO said the festival is an annual event and for five consecutive years they have brought together customers who are disadvantaged, in the sense they are from the outer-islands where market opportunities are limited.

“The festival allows them to sell and repay their loans either partially or in full and make extra spending money for their families for Christmas,” she said.

Funded by the Asian Development Bank under a Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) Grant Assistance Project aimed to alleviate poverty, we are grateful to the Japanese Government, she said.

A loan fund of US$200,000 is reserved for lending, administered as a self-revolving loan scheme, implemented by the bank with the Ministry of Finance as the supervising agency.

Alleviate poverty

Acting Japanese Ambassador, Yasuhiko Kamada said this microfinance scheme not only aims to alleviate poverty but widen economic and social opportunities through income generating activities for vulnerable communities.

He said ADB revealed that 22.1% of Tonga’s population lived below the National Poverty Line in 2015.

“Poverty is revealed to be most prominent in rural areas and the outer islands, restricting easy access to basic needs and primary services like food, water, clothing, shelter, sanitation, education and healthcare,” he said.

“I am very pleased to see that many recipients of this Microfinance revolving fund are from the grassroots level and the outer islands; and most importantly, are women who are actively using these funds for entrepreneurship purposes in terms of handicrafts development and other initiatives in order to generate income for the family.”

The handicrafts and other treasured items were quickly snatched up by the many buyers at the event.