Asian Development Bank

The hospital was relocated to higher ground, as part of the ADB-supported Climate Resilience Sector Project.

The King of Tonga, Tupou VI, led the opening ceremony and the Regional Director of ADB’s Pacific Sub-Regional Office Mr. Masayuki Tachiiri attended the event.

“This project supports the government’s commitment to e-governance in the health sector by delivering essential public health services using a digital health information system, including digital patient records, that will allow for continued patient care and data collection for strategic decision making,” said ADB Principal Management Specialist for the Pacific Pamela Wyatt.

“We look forward to the reporting on progress toward the goal of universal health coverage.”

The King of Tonga, Tupou VI, led the groundbreaking ceremony and Senior Country Coordination Officer in Tonga, Tatafu Moeaki, represented ADB at the event Wednesday.

“The Government of Tonga is pleased to help deliver the country’s first off-grid solar plant to 740 people in Niuatoputapu and soon they will enjoy the benefits of reliable, efficient solar-generated electricity,” said Tonga’s Minister for Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Climate Change, and Communications Mr. Poasi Mataele Tei in his keynote speech.

The ADB and the government signed a Host Country Agreement earlier this month confirming the establishment of Country Offices to enhance the impact of ADB’s growing assistance programmes in Tonga.

Minister Tu’i’onetoa says the upgraded office would help support the government.

Kaniva News reports the head of the ADB Tonga Pacific Country Office is Tatafu Moeaki, a former civil servant and CEO for Finance.

Tonga has been a member of the ADB since 1972.

Over the past decade the ADB has increased its financial and technical assistance to Tonga.

ADB’s flagship annual economic publication, the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2019, says Tonga’s economy is set to grow by 2.1% in 2019, while growth will moderate slightly to 1.9% in 2020.

The ADB report says the contribution of tourism to Tonga’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown steadily, albeit from a small base of only 7.0% of GDP in 2010, reaching 11.5% in 2017.

The support includes loans, guarantees, and letters of credit aimed to overcome constraints to private sector investment in the renewables sector.

The ADB says the Pacific Renewable Energy Programme will support an estimated 5 separate renewable energy projects in its Pacific developing member countries over a 5 year period.

"The program will help to build urgently needed capacity for energy sector expansion and private sector interest in clean energy projects in the region," said the Director General of the ADB's Pacific Department Carmela Locsin

Approved in 2017 by ADB, the facility finances renewable energy projects in the 11 smallest Pacific island developing member countries with an overall estimated cost of $750 million, with ADB providing up to $200 million.

The project will help improve the development and implementation of renewable energy projects in Tonga, enhancing the country’s energy security and reducing carbon emissions. ADB will also administer grants worth $29.9 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and $2.5 million provided by the Government of Australia for the project.

The support follows the $6 million assistance ADB provided to the Government of Tonga on 16 February under the Pacific Disaster Resilience Program and an additional $1 million under the ADB-supported Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund for humanitarian relief efforts on 22 February.

Apart from the grant from ADB’s Disaster Response Facility, Tonga Power Limited and the Government of Tonga will also contribute $1.48 million and $1.14 million, respectively, to the Cyclone Gita Recovery Project—expected to cost about $9.42 million in total.

The director-general of the ADB's Pacific Department said Gita was one of the most powerful cyclones in Tonga's recorded history and it had directly affected almost 80 percent of the population and damaged or destroyed around 2,000 homes.

Carmela Locsin said the grant will go towards restoring critical services, like water and electricity, clearing and disposing of rubble, and providing transitional shelter.

According to the ADB’s latest Pacific Economic Monitor, inflation will remain unchanged at 2.5% and the GDP will grow from 2.8% to 3.5% in 2018.

However, the ADB also warned that Tonga ranked second highest country (behind Vanuatu) at risk from natural disasters.

Kaniva News reports Tonga’s location exposed it to a higher chance of natural disaster.

Its placing was also determined by its ability to cope with a disaster and to adapt in the aftermath.