Results for Business

The Prime Minister will host a historical meeting with Development Partners on Tonga's Energy Roadmap in Neiafu, Vava'u on 16-17 November 2009. The aim of the meeting is to finalise and sign-off on "Tonga's Energy Roadmap 2010-2020", which will enable Tonga to reach its policy target of fifty percent of its power generation to be fuelled by renewable sources within three years.

An agreement for the New Zealand Government to give Tonga a TOP$250,000 granted for the establishment of a new Business Opportunity Support Scheme BOSS, was signed by the Tongan Prime Minister, Hon, Dr Feleti Sevele and the New Zealand High Commissioner HE Ms Christine Bogle on Monday, 26 October in Nuku'alofa.

Tonga does not have food insecurity or hunger but rather a problem of eating low-quality food, which causes a high rate of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and obesity, Prince Tu'ipelehake said in opening a display of Tongan food on October 16 for International World Food Day.

Tonga's electricity tariff will go up by 20.35 seniti per kWh, effective from the meter reading at the end of October, Peter McGill, the CEO of the Tonga Power Ltd. announced this afternoon.

Tonga's Foreign Reserves rose by $19.8 million to a record high of $159.2 million in August, the equivalent of 6.2 months of imports of goods for Tonga.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing assistance to the Pacific to help design and deliver renewable energy products to the region through a $3 million grant for the development of small pilot projects in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

The Governor of the National Reserve Bank of Tonga, Mrs Siosi Cocker Mafi, stated that at its meeting on 28 July 2009 the Reserve Bank Board noted that economic activity continued to slow down due to the impact of the global financial crises and contributing to this slow down is the decline in domestic credit growth. Domestic banks are tightening their lending criteria due to high non performing loans.

Tonga's official Foreign Reserves held by the National Reserve Bank for June rose by $4.2 million pa'anga to $136.3 million, the highest so far for the year.

Seventeen licenses have been issued to sea cucumbers operators to fish, process and export dried beche-de-mers from Tonga for the 2009 season, which runs from April 1 until the end of September.