Faumui
Lance Polu: December 1999
A
musician, broadcaster, storyteller and magazine editor, Faumui Lance
Polu has firmly established his mark in the Samoan and Pacific
community as a respected community leader. Faumui has developed a
successfully monthly magazine which provides an in-depth review
of the current affairs in Samoa and the Pacific region. Through the
leadership of Faumui, the media in Samoa has acquired more
independence whilst keeping a healthy and frank relationship with the
Governments in the region. This situation has allowed the media to
focus more on their business goals which in turn have improved their
collective viability. Bizconnections has awarded the personality of
the month to Faumui for his ability to blend the social and business
goals of the media in the Pacific.
Professor Ronald A. Fullerton : September 1999
Professor Ronald A. Fullerton, was Director of the USP
MBA Programme during 1995-1999, has resigned. He will be taking up a post as business dean
and professor in the United States.
Professor Fullerton joined USP in 1995 as the first
permanent Director of the then-new MBA Programme. Enrollment has risen from 28 in early
1995 to over one hundred in 1999. Nearly thirty percent of the students are female. The
Programme is noted for its emphasis on regional relevance, its distictinctively American
style of interactive teaching, and its highly qualified lecturers, who regularly include
distinguished visiting authorities from the United States. Classes are now offered in
Nadi/Lautoka as well as Suva. The Programme’s eighty graduates to 1999, include
citizens of Australia, China, Fiji, India, Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga,
Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom. Citizens of Brazil, Canada, and the USA have taken
classes. Most Programme alumni work as mid-to-high level civil servants and private sector
managers in the USP region countries, but graduates have taken positions in Australia, New
Zealand, and the USA.
In addition to the MBA, postgraduate Diploma and
Certificate offerings, under Professor Fullerton the Programme has also accredited and
helped to shape the development of the South Pacific Enterprise Certificate programme for
grassroots business advisors. Funded by Ausaid, this programme is run in collaboration
with the Asia Pacific Cooperative Training Centre headquartered in Sydney. Participants
have come from Bougainville, Fiji, Nauru, Niue, Kiribati, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands,
Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Professor Fullerton and his wife Deborah, an experienced
university lecturer and corporate manager who has also taught on the MBA Programme, have
high praise for the South Pacific managers whom they have taught: "These have been
the hardest-working and most appreciative managers who we have ever trained. They have
broken the mental shackles imposed by the authoritarian rote learning that is far too
common in the region, and have achieved the ability to think critically under extreme
pressure. Nothing else that we have ever done has given us such professional satisfaction
as working with these men and women. They demanded a high quality programme without
cronyism, racism, or favoritism."
Bizconnections has selected Professor Fullerton for his
significant contribution to business development in the Pacific.His American perspective
will change the way of doing business in the Pacific through the alumni of the USP MBA
programme throughout the Pacific.
Wilson Kamit :August 1999
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Announcing
the appointment, Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta, who is also the Finance and Treasury
Minister, said the NEC was confident that Mr Kamit would use ``his vast policy and
administration experience in serving the bank and the people of Papua New Guinea''.
Until his appointment, Mr Kamit was the deputy governor
(operations and administration). He has been with the bank for all 25 years of his working
life.
Mr Kamit's appointment makes him the the fourth Governor of the
Bank of PNG in the past two years.
When the Skate government took office in 1997, they removed
Koiari Tarata and replaced him with former finance secretary John Vulupindi. He was
replaced by Morea Vele after only three months.
Sir Mekere said much of the central bank's management structures
and administrative mechanisms of long standing had been ``systematically eroded''.
``As a result, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
have made it clear that the independence of the central bank must be resolved for them to
assist Papua New Guinea with a stabilisation package,'' Sir Mekere said.
``The economic stability and growth of Papua New Guinea will
depend in part on how effectively the central bank conducts the monetary policy of the
nation, and how monetary policy is complemented by fiscal policy.''
Sir Mekere said Mr Kamit will ``also help re-instil
professionalism, credibility and confidence to the institution and its staff.
``With (his) high professional ability, integrity and management
skills, I am confident the bank will effectively and successfully realign its functions
and responsibilities towards the nation's overall economic and financial stability and
growth,'' Sir Mekere said.
Mr Kamit, 45, comes from the Oro Province and is married with
three children.
He gained his early education in PNG before going to the Armidale
School in New South Wales. He obtained both a NSW school certificate, and a NSW higher
school certificate.
Mr Kamit has a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University
of PNG. He has held several senior jobs in various capacities at the central bank under
the various governors. He was appointed Deputy Governor, and the alternate chairman to the
central bank board, in 1991.
In 1992, he was also appointed as the Registrar of Savings and
Loans Societies in PNG. In 1993, together with the other two posts, he was named deputy
registrar of Savings and Loans Societies.
He is also heavily involved with the Anglican Church.
Bizconnections has selected Wilson for
his major role in the institutional strengthening of the Bank of Papua New Guinea in his
own quiet way.
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June-February 1999 Personalities
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