Results for 2002

Squash exports to Japan for this year’s squash season in Tonga began in October, and the Quarantine Department reported that 10,800 tonnes of squash had been exported by the last week of October. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

Looking for a career that offered more challenges, and taking a chance on a new opportunity, led Melenaite Fifita, out of the office and into not one job, but three jobs rolled into one. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

The Hon. Marian Hobbs, the New Zealand Minister for the Environment and the Associate Minister of Education, said in Nuku‘alofa in early October that Tonga and New Zealand had one common problem, a lack of trades-people. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

The international fight against child pornography on the internet has come to Tonga, after it was revealed that six child pornography domains on the Internet are registered to a Nuku‘alofa address. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

The hottest young voice that is being broadcast on the 89.1 FM airwaves everyday belongs to 20-year-old Melinda Fetuani. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

‘Alatini Fisheries Co. Ltd .is planning to open before Christmas a new speciality food shop on Taufa‘ahau Road, Nuku‘alofa, specialising in fresh, chilled and frozen foods. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

The current economic reform, in preparation for when Tonga becomes a member of the World Trade Organisation, and the hype that this could pull the economy out from its state of stagnation, is the wishful thinking of many people. But the big question remains: are we ready to exploit our WTO membership, or is it going to be just like the other Free Trade Agreements we have signed with other countries, where it will enable us to import more from our partners but export less? From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

Tevita Faha‘ivalu Fotu became the second Tongan to attend the prestigious Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in England, graduating last year, and following in the footsteps of Tonga’s Crown Prince Tupouto‘a, who was the first to attend the academy. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.

The ultimate purpose of the flurry of trade talks in recent years is to prepare Tonga for becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation, when it will introduce free trade and zero tariffs between Tonga and the 136 member states of the WTO. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.