PNG's Louma is new MSG head

Papua New Guinea's Leonard Louma is the new Director-General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The MSG Chair PNG Prime Minister James Marape said he's confident Louma will continue to lift the visions, spirit and solidarity of the MSG and "lead the group to new heights."

Louma succeeds Fijian Amena Yauvoli who had served the secretariat from 2016 to 2020.

Marape said Louma's appointment was a result of a lengthy and rigourous merit-based process of appointing the new director-general.

The prime minister said the recruitment process was done in accordance with the policy adopted at the 20th Leaders' Summit in Honiara, Solomon Islands, on June 26, 2015.

In a statement, the Secretariat said it understood Louma had officially accepted the appointment, and preparations were now underway to enable him to take up his posting in the MSG Secretariat's headquarters in Port Vila.

Who is Leonard Louma?

Louma (OBE) is a seasoned diplomat and a longtime public servant with more than 30 years of senior management experience in both the government and private sector

He hails from the Milne Bay Province and served in the PNG permanent mission to the United Nations in New York and PNG embassies in Paris, France and Beijing.

Louma was responsible for opening the PNG Embassy in Paris as Charge D'Affaires and was PNG's roving Ambassador to APEC, ASEAN, ESCAP, and PNG High Commissioner to Singapore

He also served as head of several departments within PNG's Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Prime Minister; in the latter, he served as Special Advisor on International Relations, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs to the PM, and subsequently as Chief of Staff to the late PM Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare from 2005 to 2011.

Louma was also involved in the development and implementation of many regional initiatives such as the original Pacific Plan and its successor in the Framework for Pacific Regionalism, MSG's 2038 Prosperity for all Plan as a member of an Eminent Person, MSG Trade Agreement, Re-enlistment of New Caledonia on the UN list of Non Self Governing Territories, development and negotiation of the binding tariffs for PNG's WTO membership bid, and the development of the Pacific Island Forum's Boe Declaration.

Prior to his appointment, Louma had engaged privately as a freelance consultant providing strategic advisory services to the PNG Government, including strategic business advisories to several private organisations and businesses in his home country.

The MSG has five full members - PNG, Fiji, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia's Kanaks.