Results for Business

Tongatapu businesses have been busy restocking and refilling goods and products today to be better able to meet customer demand tomorrow, Saturday, when they open their doors between 5:00am and 8:00pm during the current lockdown due to COVID-19. By Eleanor Gee.

Reports that the Interim Prime Minister, Hon. Rev Dr Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa early this month initiated a move to sell the government-owned Lulutai Airline Ltd. to an airline called FlyNiu, has stirred concern over the future of the domestic air service, and raised questions that have not been answered by the airline's board.

The Tongan Government is rolling out business recovery support payments to those in the informal sector, who have suffered financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

New York Times reporting: After eight years of talks, China and 14 other nations from Japan to New Zealand to Myanmar on Sunday formally signed one of the world’s largest regional free trade agreements, a pact shaped by Beijing partly as a counterweight to U.S. influence in the region.

As the impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt, 93% of Pacific businesses reported that not knowing how long the crisis will last is their main challenge. In Tonga 47% of businesses surveyed said they were not very confident in business survival after CoViD-19. Another 33% said they were somewhat confident, but only 20% of businesses in Tonga were very confident that their business would survive the CoViD- 19 crisis.

Most activities have been re-opened so why are bars and kava clubs still restricted? The answer can’t be to ensure that we adhere to social distancing – instead it must be an attempt to regulate the social activities to make sure we stay away from alcohol and kava, an unstated goal of the police and health ministries for years. It might be time to consider the positive side of these businesses as they provide a more healthy outlet for people than drinking in the streets or cars and they pay wages that help keep the economy going. - Dean Bishoprick

Local registered and informal businesses are now able to apply for assistance, under a $16.4 million pa’anga COVID-19 Business Economy Emergency Relief Fund.

Ten Tongans have completed training as coaches to help develop local industries, after undertaking a programme with Tonga Skills.

Blaming manufacturing-job losses on low-wage foreign competition, or, increasingly, on automation has become a staple of populist politics in developed countries. Nowhere is this truer than in the United States, where President Donald Trump campaigned on the issue in 2016 and has since launched a trade war with China. But US workers have long faced another source of competition much closer to home: prison labour.