A $USD10 million Program Grant for Tonga was announced by by Mr Haruiko Kuroda, the President of the Asian Development Bank during the official opening of an ADB/World Bank Group Joint Focal Office in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, this afternoon, April 21.

Mr Kuroda said that because the Global Financial Crisis had affected all Pacific Islands' economies, including Tonga's, "ADB decided to provide a $10 million program grant to the government to provide necessary support for the most vulnerable and also to further improve the public service and infrastructure, likewise we are responding to the needs of various Pacific Islands countries in coming years."

An Executive Director of the World Bank, Mr Sun Vithespongse who was also in Tonga for the opening of the new Focal Office, said that the World Bank was also responding to the needs of Pacific Islands, including Tonga during the Global Crisis by bringing forward the assistance that was programmed for the next two years, "to be able to use it before the end of the current term so that member countries can respond to the crisis faster."

Tonga's Prime Minister, Dr Feleti Sevele at the opening ceremony expressed his appreciation for the ADB and the World Bank and said that the Focal Office in Nuku'alofa would mean a closer working relationship between the banks and Tonga.

The Minister of Finance, Afu'alo Matoto also welcomed the move, which would enable the banks to have a better understanding of Tonga's needs.

Assistance

The ADB has provided since 1972 some 15 loans to the total amount of USD$60 million, and also 55 technical assistance programs valued at close to USD$17 million dollars. In recent years it has provided state enterprise reform loans and recently provided integrated urban sector grant assistance in the amount of USD$11.3 million dollars.