PNG names woman candidate for top Pacific post
04th June, 2014
Dame Meg Taylor, PNG nominee for Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat
High flying Papua New Guinea woman, Dame Meg Taylor, is the country’s nominee for the post Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said Dame Meg had a wealth of experience and knowledge that spanned 20 years in active service to the Government of Papua New Guinea.
Her father was the famed kiap and explorer James Lindsay Taylor and her mother, Yerima, was from the Wahgi area.
“Dame Meg Taylor is a qualified lawyer with a LLB Degree from Melbourne University, Australia and a LL.M Degree from the Harvard University, USA. She was also the Ambassador of PNG to the United States, Mexico and Canada in Washington DC from 1989 to 1994.”
She has held a number of key portfolios and today serves as vice president, compliance adviser ombudsman for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank Group.
As the current Secretary General’s tenure has come to its end, the PIF Secretariat has advertised the position of a new candidate for the term 2014 – 2016.
The PIF Secretariat based in Suva, Fiji, acts as the Secretariat for forum-related events and implements decisions by the leaders, facilitates the delivery of development assistance to member states, and undertakes the political and legal mandates of Forum meetings.
Fiji and Solomons Islands have also nominated their candidates, Ambassador Kaliopate Tavola for Fiji and Dr Jimmy Rodgers for the Solomon Islands.
Mr O’Neill has instructed Foreign Affairs Minister Rimbink Pato and State Enterprises Minister Ben Micah to hold talks with Melanesian Spearhead Group countries to lobby support for PNG’s candidate.
Minister Micah will fly to Solomon Islands and Vanuatu over the weekend to begin the lobbying.
[Source: PNG Loop]