Results for Pacific Islands

Digicel, the largest mobile business in the Western Pacific, owned by the Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien, “is being crawled over by buyers who see an opportunity to buy the key infrastructure, which is suffering from high debt levels and weak earnings because of the pandemic”, reported the Australian Financial Review on 18 December.

An extremely powerful Tropical Cyclone “Yasa”, is threatening Fiji today, where Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warned people to prepare and evacuate low lying areas. Forecasters warned that wave heights around the eye of the storm could approach 14 meters (45 feet), with momentary gusts of up to 195 knots (390km/hr). TC Yasa threatens to cause damage on the scale of Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016. Meanwhile, a Tropical Cyclone Alert is now in force for Tonga.

As Fiji braces for severe Tropical Cyclone Yasa (Cat. 5), Tonga Met. Director ‘Ofa Fa’anunu advises that Tonga should prepare too for a potentially severe cyclone over the weekend. Meanwhile, TC Zazu has moved away from Tonga.

A set of principles and best practices was presented by the Regional Pacific Women’s Network Against Violence Against Women and UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office, on December 7.

When the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Free Trade Agreement Plus (PACER Plus) comes into force next week on 13 December 2020, introducing new trade rules, Tonga will face a major financial difficulty of countering big trade deficits with two of its main trading partners, Australia and New Zealand. By Pesi Fonua

New Zealand Army Unimog truck parts, for His Majesty’s Armed Forces, and personal protective equipment (PPE), including medical gowns, were delivered to Tonga on 4 December, by an RNZAF Hercules.

The 252 repatriated passengers from Auckland and Brisbane have been released from quarantine after testing negative for CoViD-19 confirmed Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola on Saturday evening, 14 November. Two more flights are due to arrive from Auckland on 19 November, and from Brisbane on 24 November.

As the second largest economy, the social and economic development of China is of great significance to other countries, including Tonga. According to statistics, the total trade between China and Tonga for 2019 is US$29.57 million, with a growth rate of 18% over the previous year. However, there are still great potentials to be tapped in the bilateral trade, especially in Tonga’s export to China. The two countries should explore new areas for cooperation, such as science and technology, to improve Tonga’s manufacturing and processing capacity so as to increase the added value of Tongan agricultural products and make them fit into the need for green and high-quality agricultural products of the Chinese market. By H.E. CAO Xiaolin, Chinese Ambassador to Tonga.

The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus Agreement will come into force on 13 December after the Cook Islands became the eighth signatory state to ratify it to be able to come into effect.