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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the official arm of the Government dealing with most aid assistance to Tonga especially bilateral assistance from Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Multilateral assistance is coordinated by various ministries: Assistance from regional organizations such as the Forum Secretariat and the Secretariat to the Pacific Community is coordinated by the Ministry of Lands, Survey and Natural Resources; the Ministry of Fisheries coordinated assistance from Forum Fisheries Agencies; the Ministry of Finance coordinates assistance from international financial institutions such as the Asia Development Bank (ADB), World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF); and, the Central Planning Department coordinates assistance from Tonga's bilateral partners with the exception of the EU, which is coordinated through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At present, there are no mechanisms in Tonga whereby all these different kinds of assistance mentioned above are coordinated. Also, there are no mechanisms to coordinate efforts concerning international cooperation development assistance for sustainable development.

Like most Pacific Island countries, Tonga is vulnerable to external economic shocks and natural disasters, particularly droughts and cyclones. Tonga ranks third on a global ranking of 111 development countries by the Composite Vulnerability Index. Tonga’s resident population is approximately 100,000 and is almost entirely Polynesian. The same number of Tongans is believed to reside in overseas countries, mainly in New Zealand, Australia and the United States of America.