Results for Development

Tonga’s current development budget of $235.86 million pa’anga will be funded entirely by development partners according to the 2019-20 National Budget statement, which is now published on the Ministry of Finance website. It supports projects aligned with national development goals as well as international frameworks such as the SAMOA Pathway and the UN Development Assistance Framework 2018-2022.

A handful of church leaders and groups attended a public consultation session on the PACER-Plus Agreement on 10 June at the Wesleyan Church Moulten Hall, in Nuku’alofa. PACER-Plus promotes a free trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific countries.

A second tugboat for Tonga, the MV Olovaha, was launched this morning by HM King Tupou VI and HM Queen Nanasipau’u at the domestic wharf terminal in Nuku‘alofa. Costing $2.1 million pa’anga, the vessel was financed by the Ports Authority Tonga, with a 55% loan from the Bank of the South Pacific and 45% from its own funds.

Tongans will soon benefit from improved digital access to key public services, including significant upgrades to Tonga’s civil registration and national ID systems, following the approval of a US$4.65 million grant by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today.

A workshop to address issues that hinder the delivery of World Bank funded projects in Tonga was opened this morning, 3 May, by the Acting Minister for Finance, Hon Mateni Tapueluelu, at the National Reserve Bank Building in Nuku’alofa.

An upgraded water system was handed over to Talafo’ou on April 8 by the Government of Japan.

People living in remote communities in Tonga are expected to have better access to a range of social support services when teams are mobilized there under a pilot mobile service launched on February 5.

For Tonga to move forward and address its growing trade imbalance and unemployment, the Chief Executive Officer for its Ministry for Trade and Economic Development, Edgar Cocker, is convinced that Tonga should ratify PACERPlus, a Development and Trade Agreement between Australia and New Zealand and some Pacific Islands countries, then embark on an industrialisation program.

The Government of Japan has committed over USD$300,000 to fund four community projects to upgrade water supply systems and construct community halls in Tongatapu and Ha’apai.