PACIFIC Islands Forum (PIF) Secretary General Dame Meg Taylor will be the keynote speaker at the Business Excellence Awards (BEA) 2017 set to take place on Saturday, November 4, at the Coral Sea Resort & Casino.
Dame Taylor, a Papua New Guinean lawyer and diplomat who became a figure of inspiration for Pacific Islanders since taking up the PIF Secretary General position in 2014 and being the first woman to do so, has accepted an invitation by the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI) to deliver the keynote address for the BEA 2017.
The Secretary General will join Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and SICCI Chair Jay Bartlett in delivering official remarks at the BEA under this year’s theme “Unity in Leadership”.
“This is quite a unique and historic honour for us to be able to exclusively host the PIF Secretary General, particularly Dame Meg Taylor, at the Business Excellence Awards that only started four years ago,” said SICCI CEO Dennis Meone.
“The BEA theme is on leadership and to have a high calibre regional leader to speak on the theme is very important to us.”
Dame Meg in a statement responded to the BEA invitation: “I had the privilege of participating at the de-commissioning ceremony for the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands in June. The development strides made by this nation to re-build and reinvigorate its economy is a testament to the resilience of its people.
“It is an honour to be invited to share my insights on Leadership, however, I also look forward to learning from the experiences to be shared by your private sector.”
SICCI Chair, Jay Bartlett acknowledges Dame Meg’s attendance noting that leadership remains critical in the country’s journey and quest for growth and economic development.
“The theme reflects the pressing need for us as a country to unite at all levels of society to work together towards our common goals involving stakeholders in the process,” added Mr Bartlett.
This is also not the first time for Taylor to find herself on SICCI’s guest list.
In June Dame Meg attended a SICCI Luncheon when she was in Honiara for the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) farewell celebration.
Dame Meg received her LLB degree from Melbourne University, Australia, and her LLM degree from Harvard University, United States. She was an active law practitioner in Papua New Guinea and was closely involved in Papua New Guinea’s independence process.
From 1989-94, she was Ambassador of Papua New Guinea to the United States, Mexico and Canada in Washington DC.
She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2002.
Until 2014, Taylor was Vice President, Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank Group.
Dame Meg held Directorships on a number of Papua New Guinean companies, including companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
The Business Excellence Awards (BEA), hosted by SICCI in partnership with the Solomon Islands Government, is the only event which recognises the contribution of the business community to the development and sustainability of the Solomon Islands.
Preparations of the BEA is well underway while nominations have closed this week.
SICCI would like to thank 2017 BEA sponsors; Island Sun, RICOH Solomons, Solomon Star, Sullivans, Solomon Breweries, Strongim Bisnis, Szeba and Bred Bank.
–SICCI PRESS