The Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC) has seven new directors. They are: Edward Herman and Ngapare Tatira, appointed to the Airport Authority Board; Martha Henry and Robert Matheson appointed to Avaroa Cable Limited; Tamarii Tutangata has been appointed to Cook Islands Investment Corporation Seabed Resources Limited; and Ashley Steele and Phillip Vakatini, who have been appointed to the board of To Tatou Vai.
A number of new PNG Heads of Mission have been announced: Former diplomat Peter Eafeare has been appointed as PNG’s Ambassador to China, Sir Arnold Amet to Washington DC, Brigadier General Gilbert Toropo to New Zealand, Former Secretary for Finance Gabriel Yer will go to Brussels, Belgium, Fred Sarufa has been promoted to head of mission in New York, senior public servant Jimmy Ovia has been appointed to Malaysia, Kwike Numol has been appointed as ambassador to South Korea, Barbara Age is the new Ambassador to Fiji, and Tameo Sakias has been earmarked for Jakarta. The actual dates of their deployments is yet to be announced.
Shane Smith is the new Chief Executive for Westpac Fiji. He’s the first local to be appointed in the leadership role, and brings 37 years of regional banking experience to the position, including management positions in Samoa, Vanuatu and Australia.
American Tim Draper is the Founding Digital Resident of Palau’s new RNS Digital Residency Program. Draper is a venture capitalist and early investor in companies like Twitch, Coinbase, and Tesla, has spoken about digital residency at great length, with a vision that started more than two decades ago. “I think it’s the beginning of something extraordinary, that is going to spread around the world and is as innovative as this government,” Draper said at the launch.
SP Brewery has appointed Stella Ikasa as its Brewery Manager in Lae. Ikasa has been with the company since 2005 when she joined as a management graduate trainee. She was Packing Manager in Port Moresby and is the first woman to be made Brewery Manager.
Former sportscaster Bob Coldeen has been named Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) Chef de Mission for the home Pacific Mini Games later this year. He has come out of retirement for the task. Coldeen was a member of the Organising Committees for the 1990 and 2006 Micronesian Games hosted by Saipan.
James Byron Chand has resigned from Ok Tedi Mining Limited. The former Mining Minister is tipped to contest PNG’s national elections mid-year.
BSP Life has announced four new executive appointments. Two are internal promotions: Viresh Chandra as Chief Information & Transformation Officer and Camari Turagarua as Chief Operations Officer. The two external appointments are Arieta Cama as General Manager Human Resources, who’s most recent role was with the Lyndhurst Group, and Craig Strong, who is now Chief Investments Officer. Armstrong was most recently with British American Tobacco and is a former Permanent Secretary for Fisheries.
Geopacific Resources has appointed Andrew Bantock as Chairman, following the retirement of Ian Clyne. Bantock will lead Geopacific’s Board and work with its management and consultants to “assess the optimal operational model, development plan and funding requirements for the [PNG] Woodlark Gold Project under the review announced to the market on 15 December 2021.”
Nathan Crumpton 
Fata Brian Kaio 
Barbara Age 
Jerry Tuwai 
Viresh Chandra 
Muktesh Pardeshi
Australian former banker and business leader, Bob Lyon, has been invested into the Order of Fiji. Lyon spent 43 years with ANZ bank, including 12 years as Managing Director Pacific. He is also Patron of the Australia Fiji Business Council , having served in board positions with the organisation from 1998-2008 and has served on many other Pacific boards over the decades.
Papua New Guinea’s largest superannuation fund, Nasfund has appointed Rajeev Sharma as its Chief Operating Officer and Arua Taravatu as Acting General Manager Information Technology & Innovation. Sharma will oversee all daily operations of the Fund, and was previously Chief Finance Officer, a role he will also continue to perform.
Former Cook lslands Parliamentary Speaker, Niki Rattle, has been appointed as the country’s new Ombudsman. Rattle is a registered nurse who was secretary general for Red Cross Cook Islands for 18 years, and Speaker of Parliament for more than eight years. She replaces Nooapii Tearea as Ombudsman.
North Queensland Cowboys Elite Pathways and Indigenous 2022 All Stars Coach, Ben Jeffries, is the new Head Coach for the PNG Orchids. He will coach the side for this year’s Rugby League World Cup in England. The PNG women are currently ranked fourth in the world.
Climate Change Cook Islands Advisor, Isaac Glassie-Ryan, has been named as an Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) Climate Change Fellow for 2022. “This Fellowship will provide me with the opportunity to gain real-world climate negotiation experiences, participate in negotiations at the United Nations and in important international climate change conferences with the Cook Islands National delegation,” said Glassie-Ryan. The other Pacific fellows are Fiji’s Filimone Tiuvanualevu and Kiribati’s Kabeweea Itintaake.
FijiFirst candidate Howard Politini and Social Democratic Liberal Party candidate, Ratu Jone Rabici Seniloli have been sworn into Fiji’s parliament. Politini occupies the seat left vacant by the late forests minister, Osea Naiqamu. Ratu Jone replaces Lynda Tabuya, who resigned from parliament this year.
American Samoa’s Nathan Crumpton has become one of the few athletes to represent their home in both the summer and winter Olympics. Crumpton represented American Samoa in the 100m men’s sprint in Tokyo 2020 and participated in the skeleton event in Beijing this month.
Papua New Guinea’s Auvita Rapilla and Palau’s Baklai Temengil have been appointed to the International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commission for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.
Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi has been appointed as the next Indian High Commissioner to Republic of Vanuatu.
Stan Knez has been appointed Chief Technology Officer at Fortescue Future Industries. He was formerly CEO at Technip Energies.
Ruel Yamuna is Papua New Guinea’s first Envoy for Climate and Environment. He is the former Managing Director of the Climate Change and Development Authority.
Samoa has appointed Fata Brian Kaio as the Consul-General to American Samoa. Kaio previously served Samoa as Deputy Head of Mission to Australia, with concurrent accreditation of the Mission to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and United Arab Emirates.
Nambawan Super’s new directors are Michael Uiari and Dr Thomas Webster. Uiari has two decades of experience in the oil and gas, mining and electricity sectors, while Dr Webster’s experience is in government liaison, property and customary land development.
Michael Penrose is the first Papua New Guinean to be appointed as CEO of Paradise Foods. He is a previous General Manager for British American Tobacco in PNG and Fiji.
International powerhouse and Wallaby Test centurion Sekope Kepu will captain Moana Pasifika for their debut season in Super Rugby Pacific. Kepu has 110 Test caps and three Rugby World Cup campaigns to his name, was the first prop to reach the 100 Test milestone for Australia and he is their most capped prop of all time.
Former Sevens Rugby World Cup winner Viliame Satala has been named as an Assistant coach for the Fiji Airways Fijian 7s team after discussions with Fiji Airways Fiji 7s Head Coach, Ben Gollings. Fiji Rugby CEO John O’Connor has also confirmed the appointment of dual Olympic Games gold medallist Jerry Tuwai as player/assistant coach to Gollings.
Reverend Philemon Riti, former Moderator of the United Church of the Solomon Islands has died. Paying tribute, the Pacific Conference of Churches said: “As a minister and later Moderator of the UCSI, Reverend Philemon never hesitated to speak truth to and challenge the systems he felt caused harm to God’s people. He was forthright in his views on logging, ecological justice, corruption, divisive politics and the need for reconciliation after his country’s troubles which overflowed into civil unrest in 2000.”
