An online remittance service, ‘Ave Pa’anga Pau TDB Ltd., which will allow Tongans in Australia to send money to Tonga and vice versa, was launched today in Nuku'alofa.

Prime Minister Hon Dr Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa attended with virtual guests, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women Hon Senator Marise Payne and IFC East Asia Pacific Regional Director, Mr Vivek Pathak speaking from abroad.

The bilingual Tongan and English online service uses a voucher system users can purchase to send money directly to the receivers bank account through the Regional Australia Bank. There are no fees for using 'Ave Pa'anga Pau [2].

The Prime Minister said Tongans in Australia will have their very own product and can easily send remittances to their respective families in Tonga.

“Our seasonal workers now can send money in a bank account in Tonga while they work in Australia and simply manage and control their money themselves.”

Hon Senator Marise Payne said for over a decade Tonga has been an important part of Australia’s seasonal labour programs, supporting Australia’s agriculture industries and energizing our regional communities.

She said Australia understands, that even a small change to the fees charged to those remitting could make a significant difference. 

“We know the difference the flow of remittance can make to hard working Tongan workers and their families. I’m proud that together we can announce the launch of ‘Ave Pa’anga Pau, she said.

Vivek Pathak said remittances are vital to Tonga’s economy. Tonga also has the highest level of remittances relative to GDP globally. 

He said, almost four out of five Tongan households receive remittances from abroad. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is the cost of these remittances at about 9% today is relatively high. 

‘What we have done, thanks to this service and working with our partners is to reduce this cost down to almost 5%.”

The launch of ‘Ave Pa’anga Pau in Australia comes at a crucial time. It’s needed more than ever now to the economic fallout that we’re seeing as a result of the pandemic, he said.

The online remittance service is also used in New Zealand, since it started three-years ago.

‘Ave Pa’anga Pau was developed by IFC World Bank Group and the Tonga Development Bank with support from the Governments of Australia and New Zealand.

Guests included the Australian High Commissioner HE Adrian Morrison, New Zealand High Commissioner HE Tiffany Babington, and others.