New regional posting for Louma

By PETER ESILA
MILNE Bay native Leonard Louma is moving to Port Vila, Vanuatu, with wife Glenda to take up his new position as the director-general of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat.
Loaded with years of experience, backed by a wealth of academic qualifications and credentials as a senior public servant and diplomat, he wants to see the regional body keep its focus on its mission on regional issues.
“Over the years, regional organisations – not only the MSG – tend to have a mission drift. They start off with one thing and try to do everything under the sun.
“And that is something I want to ensure that we re-examine and focus on issues that we can make an impact on, add value to what the other regional organisations are doing. It must not try to become a mini-Pacific Islands Forum.”
The 64-year-old father-of-five and wife Glenda are moving to the MSG secretariat headquarters in Port Vila to take up the posting.
He has a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of PNG, and a post-graduate Diploma in Diplomatic Relations from the International Institute of Public Administration in Paris.
He studied at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston, United States and undertook training for senior executives in national and international security at the Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Public Administration.
He has experience in national planning, public policy formulation and implementation, government-to- government relations, strategic priority setting and regional development issues and initiatives.
He joined the Foreign Affairs and Trade department in 1981, and served in the PNG Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, PNG embassies in Paris and Beijing.
He also served as PNG’s Roving Ambassador to APEC, ASEAN and ESCAP. Between 1996 and 2002, he was PNG’s senior official at APEC.
In the Department of Foreign Affairs, he held the positions of assistant secretary policy planning branch, assistant secretary international organisation branch, director of trade and economic affairs branch, director general of trade and multilateral cooperation division, deputy secretary (policy) from 1996 to 1999, and acting department secretary from Dec 1999 to 2002.

“ And that is something I want to ensure that we re-examine and focus on issues that we can make an impact on, add value to what the other regional organisations are doing. It must not try to become a mini-Pacific Islands Forum.”

He has been involved in the development and implementation of many regional initiatives, including the MSG trade agreement and the original Pacific Plan.
In 2002, he joined the Office of the Prime Minister as special international relations and foreign policy adviser. He was appointed chief of staff in the Department of Prime Minister from 2005 to 2007, and was the PNG representative to the inaugural meetings of the Pacific Plan.
He also held the positions of chairman of the National Gaming and Control Board and chairman of the Community Benefit Fund.
He is a member of the MSG Eminent Persons Group which reviewed the institution and defined a new vision and strategy for MSG sub-regionalism.
He was a member of the MSG observer team during the recent Solomon Islands general election, and a member of the specialist sub-committee on regionalism appointed to represent the MSG constituency.
He provided consultancy and advisory services to the Department of Foreign Affairs and engaged by the Government to assist in the establishment of the Pacific ACP Secretariat and the preparation of a concept paper on a Small Island States Office in Port Moresby.
His experience and credentials put in good stead for the new position.
“It is important for the MSG to play that role in spearheading issues of concern to itself and also for the region.”