Quick Facts
Biography
Henry Faati Naisali (12 August 1928 – 29 October 2004) AO, CMG, MBE. Naisali was a Tuvaluan politician who also served as the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum.
He was educated in New Zealand and trained as an accountant. He participated in the negotiations in London which resulted in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony being separated into the British colonies of Kiribati and Tuvalu.
Financial Secretary of the British Colony of Tuvalu
He was appointed Financial Secretary of the British Colony of Tuvalu in 1976. He was elected to represent Nukulaelae in the House of Assembly of the British Colony of Tuvalu in the Tuvaluan general election, 1977.
Finance Minister of Tuvalu
Tuvalu became fully independent within the Commonwealth on 1 October 1978. The first elections for the Parliament of Tuvalu were not held until 8 September 1981.
Naisali was elected to the Parliament of Tuvalu in the Tuvaluan general election, 1981and was appointed finance minister. He was re-elected in the Tuvaluan general election, 1985 and was appointed finance minister and deputy prime minister in the government of prime minister Tomasi Puapua. In 1987, he was instrumental in the formation of the Tuvalu Trust Fund, which involving the governments of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand providing the capital for a sovereign wealth fund to support the budget of the government of Tuvalu. Japan, and South Korea also contributed to the fund.
He was re-elected in the Tuvaluan general election, 1989, however he was not re-elected in the 1993 elections.
Pacific Islands Forum
Naisali was the Director of the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPBEC) from January 1986 to September 1988; he continued as Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) until January 1992, following the formation of the PIF as successor of the SPBEC.
Awards
Officer in the Order of Australia, CMG and an MBE.