PRESS RELEASE – 08 MARCH 2010
OFFICIAL LAUNCH IN TONGA
OF
THE “EMERGING PACIFIC LEADERS’ DIALOGUE (EPLD) 2010”
Tonga hosts Study Tour Program 13 – 21 March, 2010
and the EPLD Closing Ceremony 22 -23 March, 2010.
The second Emerging Pacific Leaders’ Dialogue (EPLD) 2010 is
scheduled to take place from 11 to 23 March 2010 and Tonga will be hosting a 13 member
Study Tour Group from 13 to 21 March and the Closing Ceremony from 22 to 23
March 2010. This follows the successful staging of the inaugural EPLD in
June/July 2006 that brought together 120 prospective leaders from the member
and observer nations/territories of the Pacific Islands Forum and the US Pacific territories.
EPLD 2010 is an important regional leadership development
initiative that is funded and sponsored by government agencies and the private
sector across Pacific – particularly the Australian and New Zealand
Governments.
It is planned to again bring together some 120 high calibre mid-career
participants selected through an open application and selection process from
more than 20 Pacific region
countries/territories. Male and female applicants will be drawn from business,
government, trade unions and the community service sector including educational
institutions and NGO’s.
The founder of the Commonwealth Study Conferences is the HRH
The Duke of Edinburg. The first
Commonwealth Study Conference was held in Oxford United Kingdom in 1956 as a
one-off experiment to study the human aspects of industrial issues across
Commonwealth countries.
"The
objective is for members to look, listen and learn in the hope that the process
will help them to improve the quality of their decision-making when they reach
the peaks of their occupations,’’ by the HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
Each Conference since 1956 has addressed similar themes and
each has provided members assessed as having the potential to rise to positions
of significant influence in their communities with a unique leadership
development opportunity. This opportunity has consistently been built around
learning from the experience of others - both good and bad - through the
application of the look, listen and learn features as described by HRH The Duke
of Edinburgh.
Following a long history of Commonwealth Study
Conferences since 1956, it was decided in 2005 that a similar leadership
development conference should be initiated for the Pacific region. As a result,
the inaugural EPLD was staged across the region in June/July 2006.
To plan and deliver a second EPLD in 2010, a Pacific
Leadership Foundation (PLF) has been formed with a six person Eminent Persons
Group and a regionally representative 14/15 person PLF Board. The PLF Board has been operating
responsibility for the second EPLD scheduled to be staged from 11 to 23 March
2010 and over the past 18 months planning activities have been taking place
including important initial fundraising efforts.
Tonga
is represented in the Pacific Leadership Foundation, the body that provides oversight
to the planning and coordination of EPLD 2010 with HRH, The Princess
Royal, HRH Princess Salote Mafile’o Pilolevu Tuita a member of the Eminent
Persons Group and Mrs Mishka Tu’ifua a member of the Pacific Leadership
Foundation Board.
The Opening Plenary sessions of the
second EPLD 2010 will take place in Samoa next
week for two days and the middle week of the EPLD program will be devoted to 10
thought provoking and intellectually challenging study tour programs for widely
representative groups comprising 13 participants per study tour group. Each
study tour group will visit separate Pacific
region locations including Australia
and New Zealand
focusing on leadership and community development initiatives. Proceedings will close in Nuku’alofa, Tonga over a
two-day period where each study tour group will give a presentation on what
they have learned about themselves and the future challenges and opportunities
facing the Pacific region.
The theme of the
EPLD 2010 is again “Navigating our Future
Together” and all aspects of the conference will focus on the significance
of leadership in the context of relevant sub-themes including sustainable
economic growth; regional co- operation and infrastructure; good governance;
security; stability; strengthening communities; environment; industry;
education and health.
The HRH The Duke
of Edinburgh’s daughter The Princess Royal, HRH Princess Anne has followed her
father’s footsteps as a keen supporter and ambassador of the study
conference. We are honoured and pleased
that Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal of England will be attending the
EPLD 2010. Confirmation has been
received that she will join part of the Study Tour Program in New Zealand and in Tonga. She will also be in Tonga for the
EPLD Closing Ceremony.
Tonga’s
coordination for the EPLD 2010 event has been led by a local organizing
Committee comprising public sector and private sector individuals, with the
private secto represented by the Tonga Chamber of Commerce & Industry
(TCCI). TCCI facilitated the EPLD 2006
study tour hosted by Tonga,
and in partnership with Government was
a successful bidder to host the Closing Ceremony in Tonga for the
EPLD 2010.
“Tonga’s hosting of EPLD in 2010 will be a strengthening event of partnerships
between the private sector and the Government of Tonga, for the promotion and
development of Tonga” said Mr Paula Taumoepeau, President of Tonga Chamber of
Commerce & Industry.
This event is a great opportunity
to recognize and promote the uniqueness of Tonga. The local businesses and communities, women’s
groups, youth groups and districts and towns are being engaged to
participate. This has been incorporated into the Study Tour program and also
features in the Closing Ceremony
to be held here in Tonga from the 13th
– 23rd March, 2010.
“We wish to ensure that the influx of 150
arriving in Tonga including guest speakers, organizers and participants will
have an exceptional experience of Tonga and the local businesses and
communities will also participate and benefit from the event”, said Mrs. Mishka
Tu’ifua, Chairperson of the EPLD 2010 Tonga Steering Committee.
[END] Download Tonga EPLD 2010 Press Release 8 March 2010
Issued by the Pacific Leadership Foundation Board and the
EPLD 2010 Tonga
Steering Committee.
Contact – Ms. Lilika Fusimalohi, email – fusimalohi@gmail.com.
Telephone – 8896919.
Nuku’alofa, Tonga
Monday 08 March 2010
