Prominent Fijian economist Wadan Narsey says if Tonga is not able to host a full-sized Pacific Games in 2019 it should look at co-hosting the event with nearby Samoa.

PACNEWS reports Narsey saying the experiment of involving Australia and New Zealand in the games has been a failure, with the two countries winning a huge number of medals.

Professor Narsey says smaller Pacific nations like Norfolk Island, Cook Islands, Nauru and Niue actually win more medals at the Pacific Games per head of population than the larger countries.