Results for 1998

Tonga's economic downturn will not be turned around until the island country finds a way to get seriously into exports as a way of life. Incentives to attract investors and motivation to make people work remain elusive goals, while waiting for a plan of action. By Pesi Fonua. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 4, December 1998.

Europeans can't get enough of the South Pacific's natural tranquilizer. Kava, the root that makes an intoxicating beverage by the same name, and icon of the laid back lifestyle of the South Pacific Islands, has become a hot product. This year, 1998, the demand for kava could not be met by any of the kava growing countries in the Pacific. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 4, December 1998.

Introducing a new Malaysian building material to Tonga—asbestos free cement—were Lee Chong Poh and James Tang, of the UAC Berhard, of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was their first visit to Tonga. Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 4, December 1998.

The value of the Tongan pa‘anga has continued to drop against the currencies of Tonga’s major trading partners during the past eight months.

Mr Justice Gordon Ward, who was Chief Justice for Tonga 1992-1995 will return as Chief Justice starting on November 16 under local appointment. When Mr Justice Ward left Tonga in 1995, it also concluded a 90-year working relationship between Tonga and the United Kingdom.

The musical works of Queen Salote Tupou III are being revived by four guardians of Tongan history and culture, Dr Melenaite Taumoefolau, Dr Adrienne L. Kaeppler, Princess Nanasipau‘u Tuku‘aho, and Dr Elizabeth Wood Ellem who are compiling all the poems and songs that were written by the late Queen.

Hiram Pang, a Hawaiian, and his wife Amelia, from Neiafu, Vava‘u, visited Tonga in August, “just for holiday and to see some old friends.”

Tonga’s National Reserve Bank wants Tongans to cut down on overseas spending to slow the decline of the foreign reserves, and on September 14 announced new measures to restrain bank lending.

Nuku‘alofa’s sole television broad-casting station, TV7, run by the Oceania Broadcasting Network, has declined to broadcast news items prepared by Radio Tonga staff.