26 September 2023

26 September, 2023, Washington, D.C.:-On the fringes of the 2nd U.S.-PIF Summit, in Washington, D.C., The Prime Minister of Tonga, Hon. Hu’akavameiliku, held a bilateral meeting with the Executive Director of the Office Executive Director of the World Bank Group of Southeast Asia, Dr. Wempi Saputra.

The meeting focused on areas that could better assist Tonga in line with the goals of the World Bank, of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity, focusing on sustainability, resilience, and inclusiveness.

These include lifting individual households standard of living from extreme poverty zones, through direct assistance to upgrade, renovate and rebuild where needed. Furthermore, the need to factor in strong resilient classrooms that can withstand up to 5 categories of hurricanes, and a shift to digital learning and online services to avoid disruptions to students’ learning, especially during hurricane seasons.

Further discussed were Tourism empowerment of operators whereby mechanisms are put in place to incentivise those who are badly affected by natural disasters. Similarly to Agriculture and key sectors of the economy, renewable energy, which are climate related. The meeting ended in a positive note and both look forward to taking these forward to end extreme poverty and achieve shared prosperity.

-ENDS-