Tonga's king is looking for funding to establish a private university in Tonga, with a focus on renewable energy and the environment.

King George Tupou V has made it known that in the New Year he would like to make a definite move to establish a private university that can take in up to 320 students a year, and up to 1,320 students over four-year programmes.

The king envisaged that such a project could be funded by private foundations, and that Tonga could anticipate support from the US State Department. It is understood that a private university project in Tonga might possibly be supported through military cooperation with the United States, with the military assisting in the field of education and training in return for Tonga's participation in US military operations abroad.

Tonga might also tap into the Copenhagen Environmental Fund for such an education project, the king believed.