Results for Business

The Westpac Bank of Tonga closed down its branches in Ha‘apai and ‘Eua as it teams up with the Tonga Development Bank to deliver its banking services to customers in both the outer islands, effective today September 2.

The Tonga Energy Road Map (TERM), an agency that was established by the Tongan Cabinet in 2011 to implement Tonga's ten-year multi-million renewable energy planning, has not come under the government's budget for 2013-14.

Tonga’s high speed internet goes live on Wednesday, August 21, with the commissioning by King Tupou VI of the project at the Tonga Cable Ltd station in Sopu.

A top priority for Tonga is a reduction in the size of its public service and a reduction of the wage bill to 45%, from the current height of about 75% of the government's annual budget, a new economic report by the Asian Development Bank recommends. It also recommended for government to appoint an Anti-corruption Commissioner.

Tonga's petroleum prices for mid-July to mid-August will increase significantly compared to June, continuing a trend of rising petroleum prices since April.

A new commercial bank, the Pacific International Commercial Bank, was awarded a license to operate by the National Reserve Bank of Tonga on July 2, and is expected to open in about six months time as the fifth bank in Tonga.

Although Tonga’s economy continues to be weak, there are some positive indicators, according to a market update on July 1, by the Deputy Governor of Tonga’s National Reserve Bank, Jessie Cocker, who met with senior regional officers of ANZ Bank on June 28.

Tonga's first 11kW wind turbine was switched on by the Prime Minister Lord Tu'ivakano, on June 14 at Nakolo in Tongatapu. The Tonga Power Ltd. project aims to prove the viability of wind generation in order to make a larger wind farm in the future.

Tonga's high speed internet is expected to be launched on August 5, after a multi-million dollar submarine fibre optic cable network goes live. The landing of the first cable in Tonga was celebrated this morning in Sopu after the arrival of the 'Ile de Re' French cable ship from Fiji, on June 10.