Country Brief Tonga

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Australia is the largest aid donor to Tonga and is contributing to improved governance, stronger economic growth and better service delivery. Improving the quality of life of the people of the Ha'apai island group is a special focus of the aid program.

• LAND AREA 747 km²
• EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE 700 000 km²
• CAPITAL Nuku'alofa
• LANGUAGES Tongan, English
• POPULATION (2001 est) 99 400
• LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH 61 years
• INFANT MORTALITY 18 per 1000 births
• GDP PER PERSON (2002) US$ 1593
• MAIN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Remittances, tourism, agriculture, fisheries
• EXPORTS Squash, fish, root crops, bananas, vanilla, light manufactures, tourism
• IMPORTS Foodstuffs, petroleum products, manufactured goods, motor vehicles, building materials

Overview

Tonga's population of just under 100 000 is spread across 36 of its 170 islands, but most people live on the main island, Tongatapu. The country's economy is based on agriculture. The larger islands are very fertile and support crops for local consumption and export. However, Tonga's small, open economy is vulnerable to fluctuations in world commodity prices and susceptible to natural disasters such as cyclones. The public sector and remittances play a large role in the economy.

The people of Tonga enjoy a relatively high quality of life, which includes a strong sense of community and national identity. There are, however, significant challenges: high levels of emigration among its well-educated workforce coupled with dependency on their remittances, a narrow base of economic activity and a relatively small private sector.

Tonga is embarking on an ambitious program of economic and public sector reform brought about by a period of economic stagnation. The reforms aim to improve Tonga's fiscal policies, develop a more effective and equitable taxation system, promote private sector growth and create a more efficient and streamlined public service. Australia will support the Tonga Government's efforts to reform as far as possible. Already it is assisting the Ministry of Finance to implement program budgeting, providing support for court administration, and helping to improve health sector management. Consideration is being given to support in the areas of customs and tax administration and statistics.

In addition, Australia supplies aid on a geographic basis to the Ha'apai island group to the north of the main group of Tongatapu. This aid is directed at improving the quality of life of the islanders by providing a combination of basic infrastructure, training programs and community development activities.

On New Years Eve 2001 cyclone Waka hit the northern island group of Vava'u, causing widespread destruction. Australia is providing assistance worth $1 million for the construction of cyclone-resistant housing, the reconstruction of schools and repairs to fishing vessels damaged during the cyclone.

Australia provided bilateral aid of $9.4 million to Tonga in 2001-02 and will provide an estimated $9.0 million in 2002-03.

Economic reform and governance

The public sector plays a very large role in Tonga's economy. Australia has been involved in helping to redefine the role of the public sector and is assisting a number of Tongan institutions to undergo reforms that will help the country to meet its economic needs from its own resources.

Strengthening program budgeting

• CONTRIBUTION: $2 800 000
• DURATION: 2001-03
• CONTRACTOR: Uniquest Limited

To increase the effectiveness of the Ministry of Finance's financial management Australia is providing technical assistance to strengthen program budgeting by incorporating an outcome-output focus. Australians are also providing training and technical advice while working with Tongan counterparts to enhance the ministry's ability to issue accurate and timely financial information.

Strengthening the legal sector

• CONTRIBUTION: $3 665 000
• DURATION: 2001-03
• CONTRACTOR: Hassall and Associates International

The goal of this project is to support the administration of justice to meet the needs of Tongan society. It is doing this by improving management and administration, particularly court administration, in the Ministry of Justice. The project's principal achievements will include simplified procedures for traffic offences, improved case management and records management, and community legal education that will improve community access to the law.

Education and training

Tonga's high literacy rate (99 per cent) and high levels of education among the population reflect the large investment the country has made in its people. However, that investment is being drained. Because of the country's narrow economic base, many young, well-educated Tongans are forced to emigrate to find work. It is estimated that 2500 Tongans leave their country each year; about 100 000 are now living overseas. Although the funds sent home by Tongans working in other countries are crucial to the Tongan economy, the country is deprived of a young, energetic workforce. Developing and retaining a skilled workforce is vital for economic viability and for broadening the economic base.

Education and training

• CONTRIBUTION: around $2 000 000 a year
• DURATION: ongoing

Australia offers scholarships for postgraduate studies and for upgrading qualifications in Australia, and for diploma, degree and postgraduate qualifications in Pacific regional institutions such as the University of the South Pacific. The program places students on career paths that conform to Tonga's goals in human resource development. Around 55 Tongans are studying under Australian Development Scholarships or Third Country Scholarships at any given time. Future scholarships will include an increased emphasis on governance and supporting the Tongan reform program.

Australia also supports a program of specialised, short-term training courses in Tonga. The contractor for this activity is TAFE Global NSW. The program focuses on subject areas in which local expertise is not available. Since the program's inception in 1993, participants from the public and private sectors have attended courses ranging from law and accounting to tractor operation and maintenance.

Health

The health of Tonga's people has improved significantly over the past 35 years but new challenges have emerged. While the control of communicable diseases has improved, lifestyle diseases such as diabetes are rapidly increasing and putting significant strains on the health system. There are strategic and management problems for sustainable health care, including financing, service delivery and staffing.

Diabetes prevention and treatment

• CONTRIBUTION: $500 000
• DURATION: 2001-04
• CONTRACTOR: Australian Centre for Diabetes Strategies, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney

Australia has been supporting Tongan government measures to reduce the impact of diabetes since 1997. This support is now in its second phase - a three-year project providing technical assistance to the Diabetes Centre at the Vaiola Hospital in Nuku'alofa. The strong partnership that the project has established between the Vaiola Hospital and the Australian Centre for Diabetes Strategies has already led to a 30 per cent reduction in the number of diabetes-related amputations.

Health sector management

• CONTRIBUTION: $2 750 000
• DURATION: 1999-2003
• CONTRACTOR: AusHealth International Pty Ltd

This project aims to deliver more efficient, high-quality health care to the people of Tonga through improved management structures and systems in the Ministry of Health and at the Vaiola Hospital. The first two years of the project were devoted to developing a framework for organisational change to use resources more effectively to improve health service delivery. A major project achievement has been the introduction of improved financial management processes.

Solid waste management

• CONTRIBUTION: $6 400 000
• DURATION: 2002-06
• CONTRACTOR: to be selected

The people of Tongatapu will have a cleaner environment and better public health as a result of this project, which will establish an effective solid waste management system. The project entails constructing a new solid waste facility, developing a waste transfer system and operating the new site, all with community involvement. Institutional strengthening of the Ministry of Works will also be an important component.

Environment and natural resources

Fisheries management

• CONTRIBUTION: $5 200 000
• DURATION: 2002-2006
• CONTRACTOR: Hassall and Associates International

By enabling Tonga to sustainably develop and manage living marine resources this project will contribute to the economic development and social wellbeing of the population. The project will place particular emphasis on remote and disadvantaged communities. It will focus on strengthening the Ministry of Fisheries to enable it to be more responsive to its stakeholders. In addition the project will provide assistance to small-scale fishers to increase incomes from under-exploited fisheries and inshore living marine resources, and by improving marketing opportunities.

Private sector development

Tourism development

• CONTRIBUTION: $4 800 000
• DURATION: 1997-05
• CONTRACTOR: Calkin Simpson Tourism Group Pty Ltd

This project is using a two-pronged approach to develop a sustainable tourism industry in Tonga and to improve the capacity of the tourism sector to respond to opportunities and expectations of the international market. It is providing support to improve the capacity of the Tonga Visitors Bureau, which coordinates the development of the tourism industry and markets the industry. It will also expand community-based tourism by improving visitor facilities and increasing the customer service skills of all tourism workers in the four island groups of Tonga.

Infrastructure

Ha'apai Development Fund

• CONTRIBUTION: around $300 000 a year
• DURATION: ongoing

The Ha'apai Development Fund, which was established in 1988, responds to community needs in the Ha'apai group of islands through a committee comprised of government ministers, community representatives and government advisers. Australia is represented on the committee. Since it began, the fund has supported projects in such areas as education, water and sanitation, transport and communications, power generation, fisheries and agriculture. Small-scale infrastructure projects such as teachers' housing, jetties, water tanks and health centre upgrades have also been funded. A major activity in 2001-02 was the construction of a produce market in the township of Pangai (the administrative centre for the Ha'apai island group). The market will promote commerce in Ha'apai by providing local people and tourists with a covered, year-round marketing facility.

Ha'apai outer islands electrification

• CONTRIBUTION: $3 600 000
• DURATION: 2002-2004

The provision of electricity generation and distribution in the Ha'apai islands has been given the highest priority by the governments of Tonga and Australia in their program of development cooperation for the Ha'apai group. The project will provide diesel-generated electricity to four islands. A more reliable power supply will improve the opportunity for economic activity as well as the lifestyle of the communities. It will allow the introduction of refrigeration on the islands so that communities can store perishable foodstuffs as well as medicines and vaccines. Other benefits are likely to accrue to the tourism and fisheries sectors.

Cyclone Waka rehabilitation

• CONTRIBUTION: $1 000 000
• DURATION: 2002

When cyclone Waka struck the northern island group of Vava'u it caused widespread destruction to property and crops and has had a major impact on the Tongan budget and the country's short-term economic outlook. Australia responded quickly, providing emergency shelter and clothing. In 2002 it allocated $1 million for rehabilitation activities, including the construction of cyclone-resistant houses and the reconstruction of schools, and for contributions to a revolving fund for repairs to fishing vessels damaged by the cyclone.

Other

Several schemes provide Tonga and other Pacific countries with flexible, direct assistance to meet short-term needs. The Australian Community Assistance Scheme, which is expected to have a 2002-03 allocation of $350 000 for Tonga, will help local communities to help themselves with, for example, village schools and health care centres.

The recruitment of Australian specialists through the Pacific Technical Assistance Facility to provide long-term specialist expertise and to transfer skills to Tongan counterparts began in early 1997 with the employment of an automotive instructor at the Tonga Institute of Science and Technology. Further placements have included a general surgeon for the Ministry of Health, an information technology analyst for the Tonga Development Bank, and a database expert for the Central Planning Department. The facility will continue to fund specialist advisers in response to requests by the Government of Tonga. The new Technical Assistance Governance Facility, which will commence in 2002-03, will be an alternative mechanism to provide short-term high-level strategic advice to the Government of Tonga.

There are currently three Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development in Tonga - a community health educator, a hospitality industry trainer and a sports development officer.

Updated 25 October 2002