Photos by Pesi Fonua and Linny Folau

A one billion pa'anga foreign investment is needed to revive the Tongan economy, according to the King of Tonga, HM King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, in his speech from the throne to open the 2005 session of the Tonga Legislative Assembly yesterday.

He explained that a billion is one thousand million. It was what Tonga needed to restore the value of the Tongan Pa'anga, which had been declining during the past few years. He noted that a low-valued Pa'anga pushed up the price of imported goods and it brought economic hardship to the people. He said that Tonga's foreign earnings from the exports of fish, squash and other agricultural products were not enough to restore the value of the Pa'anga to a favourable value for trading.

The king said that a billion pa'anga investor would also be an answer to Tonga's high electricity cost, and they were planning to introduce a Gas Turbine generator to replace the Diesel Generator which is currently being used to generate electricity. He said that gas was cheaper than oil, with the price of crude oil fluctuating erratically and continuing to rise the price of electricity would be decided by the price of oil.

The other benefit that the $1 billion investor would bring to Tonga was an abundant supply of clean drinking water. The king said that the "company" would require an enormous amount of clean water for its operation and because it would be purifying water in a very big scale so there would be enough water for the whole of Tongatapu and there would be enough to ship to the outer islands.

In presenting his opening speech this year, the king at 86, was noticeably getting on in age. For the first time he could no longer walk up to the throne and he arrived on his specially-built van to accommodate his wheel chair. He remained in his wheel chair throughout the opening of parliament.

At the opening of parliament last year the king was talking about a foreign investor who was willing to invest $500 million in Tonga. This year that figure has gone up to $1 billion. The investor has not been identified.