Results for Business

Tonga and China are discussing trade, but there’s stiff competition to sell products in China. “You have to promote how good your products are,” a Chinese trade official Mr Jiang Shan told Tongan Journalists at China’s Ministry of Commerce in Beijing in June. By Finau Fonua

A four-man technical team known as CERT (or the Tonga National Computer Emergency Response Team) was launched by government on 15 July as a step toward enforcing the new Communications Act 2015 and the Communications Commission Act 2015 that were passed by Parliament last year, to guard Tonga from the dark side of the internet.

A goal of year round agricultural harvesting of top quality organic vegetables is within reach for Tonga, except that farmers need to understand just how valuable pig shit really is in order to achieve this. A remarkable method of “biogas farming” using pigs and their waste to produce high yield top quality produce could transform subsistence farming incomes. It’s been demonstrated that a properly run biogas farm in Tonga can earn $200,000 or more a year - yet the opportunity is not being fully realized. By Eleanor Gee

Significant increases in prices for petrol and diesel took effect from July 1-15 in Tonga, due to increase in duty starting today Thursday, 7 July.

In its latest state of the economy report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on Tonga to improve its debt management, make broader reforms to increase revenue, and to effectively manage public spending. In the IMF's 2016 Article IV report released this week, Tonga was also encouraged to continue to seek concessional and grant financing for the South Pacific Games, while the report welcomed Tonga's efforts in curbing the wage bill and avoiding cost overruns. It urged Tonga to provide more opportunities for private sector development.

Higher oil prices, a weaker pa'anga and Tonga's new Foreign Exchange Levy have combined to significantly drive up the new prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene in Tonga for June to July, starting tomorrow Thursday, 16 June, the Competent Authority has announced.

Tonga has received a $3 million grant and a $3 million loan approved by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to strengthen long-term economic growth and to have the capacity to respond to external economic shocks such as those caused by natural disasters.

Flour supplies are reported to be back to normal in Tongatapu, after wholesalers ran short early this month, said one of the island’s major bakers. Shipping cancellations and delays had contributed to a short supply of flour, but fresh stock was on the market today.

Tonga’s goal of opening up a potential new market in China for its squash exports is another step closer. This week Chinese and Tongan officials agreed on the standards and processes that need to be met for a successful squash export partnership between the two countries.