Royal Oceania Institute’s First Workshops Hit the Mark ^Featured

Nuku'alofa, 11 April 2016. The first public events of Tonga’s new think tank, the Royal Oceania Institute (ROI), were two high-level workshops on Negotiation and Public Affairs Strategy held on 31st March and April 1st, 2016.

According to participant evaluations, the events were ‘excellent’. Over 90% of participants said what they learned was applicable to their work, they would recommend the workshop to others, and looked forward to further supporting the Institute.
 
The Royal Oceania Institute’s mission is to provide a forum for unbiased, fact-based discussions on issues pertinent to the country and the region.
 
“We are very pleased to see so much enthusiasm from the participants. It shows that creating a think tank in Tonga is an idea whose time has come,” said ROI Chair, Lord Fakafanua.
 
Participants were also asked what topics they would like to see covered in the future. A wealth of ideas was offered including peace building, audit and accounting, risk management, international mergers, and renewable energy.
 
Furthermore, among the most mentioned topics of interest were trade, international relations, contract negotiations, and consultation processes for public, private and NGO sectors.

A special aspect of ROI activities would be allowing members, stakeholders, and participants to nominate particular issue areas they wish to gain specialized skills and knowledge on, and the ROI would pursue to provide as soon as possible.

"Even though we have our own estimations, this method guarantees that ROI activities are guided by what the community actually needs," says ROI Director, Mr. Tevita Motulalo.
 
“We look forward to many more successful events in the future,” continued Lord Fakafanua.
 
The ROI’s first workshops was led by Robert Valdmanis, Adjunct Professor of Public Affairs Strategy at Concordia University’s School of Community and Public Affairs, and founder and President and RVC Inc., a global communications and public affairs strategy firm based in Canada. He is formerly Director of Communications and External Affairs at Rio Tinto.

In attendance were CEOs from Government, leading members of the business community, and senior executives of non-government organizations (NGOs), and members of civil society organizations.
 
Contacts for more information:

Tevita Motulalo
Director of Research and Communications
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