Henry Naisali


Henry Faati Naisali, CMG, AO, OBE was a Tuvaluan politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum and Pro-Chancellor of The University of the South Pacific. He is notable for co-founding the Tuvalu Trust Fund which lead Tuvalu to achieve greater financial autonomy.
Naisali 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 1977 Tuvaluan general election.

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 1981 Tuvaluan general electionand was appointed finance minister. He was re-elected in the 1985 Tuvaluan general election 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 1989 Tuvaluan general election, 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 from January 1986 to September 1988; he continued as Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum until January 1992, following the formation of the PIF as successor of the SPBEC.

Awards

, Order of St Michael and George CMG, Order of the British Empire OBE and Member of the Order of the British Empire MBE.