Malieta and Rebecca

Malieta has spent the last five years working at the National Reserve Bank of Tonga, specifically in Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME). She is passionate about using MSMEs as a means of financial independence for youth and women.

On completion of her studies, Malieta will advocate for MSMEs to become a national agenda, implemented through the Tongan educational syllabus. She believes that early intervention needs to take place in schools, teaching students early on the importance of savings, entrepreneurship and financial security.

She also wants to work with MSME entrepreneurs, training them on growing their business and encouraging them to contribute to national policy making so that MSMEs are formally recognised contributors in the Tongan economy.

Rebecca is a senior adviser to the Minister for International Development and the Pacific. She has over 18 years’ experience working on the development and implementation of foreign, defence and development policy. This includes management roles with the Australian Government and United Nations.

She has held representative roles and led teams in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea; Nairobi, Kenya; and Juba, South Sudan, and has worked on peacekeeping and peacebuilding, economic and social development, and defence and security issues.

She is committed to supporting young professionals develop their confidence and capabilities by helping them to extend themselves by taking on new challenges.