25 TO WATCH-2005

Tukana Bavoro continues to lead the Fiji Development Bank, and has just been appointed Vice Chairman of the Fiji Sugar Corporation Board. The FDB made a profit in 2005, and recorded growth in new loans with F$67 million loaned to 2100 clients.

Tim Cahill should be on the field for Australia at the World Cup in Germany in July, if he recovers from a partial tear of his cruciate ligament. At the time of the injury he was expected to be off the soccer field for six weeks.

Elias Camsek Chin continues to weigh his options as the Palau Presidential election nears. As Vice President he has recently visited Guam and Indonesia, representing Guam at the international arena.

Heinz S Hofschneider shouldn't be counted out as a political force just yet. Although he lost by just 99 votes last November to current Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands Governor Benigno R. Fitial in a four-way gubernatorial race, Hofschneider is expected to make a political comeback during next year's off-year election for the House of Representatives.

Rick N. Hou continues to lead the Central Bank of Solomon Islands, recently committing to work with the Asian Development Bank to improve access to finance. "These reforms will allow businesses to use movable property … as collateral or security for loans," Hou says.

Sandra King of American Samoa continues to head up the non-profit Pacific Islands Center for Education (PICED), the student tutorial organization she founded in 2001. In 2005, first-time motherhood has seen King revise her priorities, but she still finds time to carry out advocacy work on improving student performance in education.

Jerry Kramer's company Pacific International Inc. has won the lion's share of multi-million dollar U.S. Compact-funded school construction in the Marshall Islands that moved into high gear in 2005 and 2006. His joint venture deal with the Marshall Islands government to operate the Marshall Islands Resort (formerly managed by Outrigger Hotels of Hawaii) led to the hotel showing its first profit in 2005 after 10 years in business.

Dr Fa'amausili Matagialofa Lua'iufi continues to lead Samoa's Public Service Commission as it continues to refine its position and operations.

Lolo Letalu Moliga continues as President of the American Samoa Senate. He is driving a review of the multi-million dollar Government Employees Retirement Fund. Lolo Letalu Moliga has also been at the forefront of efforts to address organized crime and human and drug trafficking in the territory.

Kaleo S. Moylan is running as a candidate for the Guam Governorship later this year. His running mate is former Senator Francis Santo. Currently Guam's lieutenant governor, Moylan has been at odds with Governor Felix Camacho over the extent of his powers.

Since becoming the Marshall Islands government's Chief Secretary in early 2005, Robert Muller has pushed improvements in government operations, including a plan for personnel audit to address an increasingly unsustainable public service payroll. A key initiative he launched in 2006 is a plan to revamp the tax system. He also applied and was short-listed for the Forum Fisheries Agency director position.

Guam attorney Michael Phillips is no longer Chairman of the Democratic Party of Guam, making way for Tony Charfauros. However he is continuing his practice and recently won a judgment for a group of government retirees. Phillips is reportedly still deciding whether to run for attorney general in the forthcoming elections.

Mike S. Sablan is still the CNMI Public Auditor, a position he has been serving since December 2000. Last year Sablan was selected by the Association of Government Accountants in Washington D.C. as Vice President for the Pacific Region. This year he has been tapped by the South Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions, a United Nations agency, to provide leadership role in its upcoming conference on Saipan this month. The latter group consists of 23 countries in the Pacific region

Alan Seid has spent the last year solidifying his political base in Palau, while also focusing on investment projects in the country. He has been particularly focused on tourism-related developments. As usual, much of Seid's time out of Palau has been spent in Taiwan and Japan, the nation's primary markets for overseas tourists. He also has had some redemption in the relaunch of Palau Micronesia Air as a charter service between Palau and the southern Philippines. While Seid's involvement in the carrier is relatively small, his name and reputation were linked closely to the carrier's earlier failed efforts to be a regional airline.

As the director of the Fiji Human Rights Commission, Shaista Shameem continues to scrutinize government, much to the displeasure of the chief executive in the Prime Minister's office, who has accused her of having a political agenda after she asked the State for details of an investigative report on its affirmative action program. Meanwhile in her role as the UN Special Rapporteur on Mercenaries she has been monitoring the presence of former Fiji soldiers in Bougainville.

Asterio Takesy is into another term as director of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Program- the region's preeminent environmental organization.

Oscar Temaru clings to the Presidency in French Polynesia, recently finalizing a cabinet reshuffle that has helped him regain his coalition's majority within the local legislative assembly. Temaru has told media he believes the new government will remain in power until the next elections in 2009. He is still creating waves locally and in the French Pacific by calling for independence.

Feiloakitau Tevi took the concept of "Island of Hope" to the World Council of Churches Assembly in Brazil this year. The Executive Secretary of the WCC office in the Pacific continues to examine the impact of economic globalization on Pacific Island nations, and posit alternative development models.

Tessie Tsoi's leadership of Friends Foundation Inc in Papua New Guinea sees her continue to grapple with one of that country's biggest development challenges, the AIDS epidemic. UN AIDs/WHO says since 1997, HIV diagnoses have increased by about 30% each year in Papua New Guinea; approximately 10 000 HIV cases had been diagnosed by the end of 2004, but the actual number of people living with HIV could be five times as high. Tsoi is focused on helping families living with HIV/AIDS.

Guam Democrat Robert Underwood is contesting the Democratic primaries for November's Presidential election. Underwood has been vocal on the Jack Abramoff affair, urging Guam leaders to ask for a federal investigation into Jack Abramoff's purported interference in Guam's 2004 elections.

Vaine Iriano Wichman heads off to Harvard University next month. She is one of the six Pacific women chosen for the prime minister's fellowship for Emerging Pacific Women Leaders at the prestigious university. Her party has been in the Cook Islands opposition since last November.