Results for Business

An inspection shed for handicrafts of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Forest, Fisheries and PHAMA program was opened on Friday, June 16 to support people involved in the industry and increase exports.

Tongan handicrafts were showcased by local artists to Crown Princess Sinaitakala Tuku’aho on Thursday, June 8 at a True Tonga Inc. meeting held at the Tanoa International Dateline Hotel.

A private yacht owned by Waitt Foundation founder and philanthropist Ted Waitt from the United States will be carrying out a research expedition on coral reefs in Ha’apai and Vava’u.

Tonga yesterday joined Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation as a full member country. The organisation is part of Commonwealth efforts to achieve greater impact using ICTs in economic development and social inclusion

Tonga needs to act fast in creating a plan to take advantage of the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations PACER Plus, between 12 Pacific Island Countries, plus Australia and New Zealand, said ‘Anisi Kulu Bloomfield, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Tonga’s Ministry of Labour, Commerce and Trade.

A big project for the installation of a Wind Power Generation System in Tongatapu to be completed by 2019 is funded under a grant aid from the Government Japan, with an estimated to $40 million pa’anga.

Two key challenges that the Tongan government faces now are to manage carefully its wages bill and also its financing of the 2019 South Pacific Games related constructions. The World Bank also believes that Tonga should undergo an economic reform to shore up its revenue, “contain unproductive spending while boosting critical expenditures on health and education, and build up buffers against shocks.”

Consumers will enjoy lower prices on petrol, diesel and kerosene starting next Tuesday, 18 April 2017.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a preliminary statement this week that Tonga’s “economic activity is expanding and likely to remain relatively strong into the next couple of years”. However, the IMF found that there was a lack of recent statistical information available such as government finance, inflation, balance of payments, and national accounts data for their assessment of economic development.