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National Assets up for sale - Tonga Chronicle

Posted by: Samiuela LV Taufa on July 12, 2006 4:19:04 PM

According to the below ABC Asia Pacific news report, the Tonga Government is having to release a number of key national assets to try and get some cash for a number of things, including the pay-offs for the redundancies.

ABC Asia Pacific TV / Radio Australia
Tonga is pushing ahead with its program of selling state-owned assets.

The government's 40 per cent share in the Westpac bank, the phone company, the post office and the Tonga Chronicle newspaper are all in the process of being privatised.

Tonga's secretary of finance, Aisake Eke, says the government would prefer Tongans with money and skills to invest in the assets.

"I think we probably give a chance to our people here in Tonga, and if there is none around, well we also put it out for expression of interest from overseas, particularly some of our Tongans overseas," he said.

"But also we have to look into, not only the financial side, we have to look into the technical know-how, for future operations of those entities."

The privatisation program comes as nearly a thousand public servants opt to take voluntary redundancy.

Looking at the examples above, we can see an interest for the Bank (WestPac will most likely pick that up themselves if they think they can make continued good profits) and possibly the phone company, but why on this side of hell would you want to buy a newspaper with maximum readership of 2,000 ?

Instead of buying a paper with a distribution channel of sending a driver around the streets with paper in hand for the fale-koloa, why don't you spend less than half the money in building your own distribution network, that's what a number of new papers have done recently.

Visit bTonga

IF some out there really wants to buy the Tonga Chronicle and it's' archives of stories and photos of Tonga (which will likely be in dispute with the Government on ownership, if they still exist) please give me a call. I've got some prime seafront realstate in pa-tangata that I might be able to get rid off at the right price.

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National Assets up for sale - Tonga Chronicle Tonga July 21, 2006 03:50 PM

I think the next step will be selling land to palangi that already have a business on it... that can be good monies and push investment of good currency in Tonga.

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National Assets up for sale - Tonga Chronicle

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