Research vital for development, says Samoan PM

Samoa’s Prime Minister and chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, officially opened The University of the South Pacific’s (USP) Research Week at Laucala campus yesterday. Picture: WANSOLWARA STAFF

By MEREONI MILI

Research plays a vital role in assisting governments and businesses to develop services and policies that are responsive to an identified need, says Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi.

While opening The University of the South Pacific’s Research Week event at the Laucala campus yesterday, Mr Malielegaoi said research contributed to a country’s economic wellbeing by ensuring organization of responses were relevant and properly targeted.

“Knowledge from research enables businesses and our private sectors to develop products and services to meet the desires of their customers. Governments can take policies and programs to the needs of our citizens,” he said.

Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi at USP’s Laucala campus yesterday. Picture: MEREONI MILI

“As leaders, we know that research helps to educate and inform the response of decision-makers to a range of important issues including planning for major transport and infrastructure projects, responses to climate change, taxation policies and many other areas. It should not be used to push a product or service.”

The Samoan PM said research could also be used by organisations to better understand the communities they served or trends of any kind, adding national statistics on social issues and ratings could also be reliably determined through research.

USP’s Research Week from August 27-31 is one of many commemorative events to mark the 50^th anniversary of the regional university.

“USP has contributed towards shaping the framework for Pacific regionalism through intellectual dialogues and the interface with people who are actively engaged in redefining the way the Pacific framework should work,” Mr Malielegaoi said.

“We see USP as having a multi-faceted role in the Pacific region. Besides its core function as a provider of higher tertiary education and research in the region, it also plays a significant role as a regional organization.

“The collaboration between USP and other institutions in the region can leverage research-based sustainable solutions for issues facing our region. As part of its mission as the region’s premier and quality university for tertiary education, capacity-building and research, USP plays an active and key role in regional engagement through the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP) mechanism, leading CROP ICT and human resource development working groups.”

USP’s Pro-Chancellor and Council chairman, Winston Thompson, said Research Week was dedicated to celebrating the University’s past achievements and aspirations in research and innovation.

“Interdisciplinary research is highly valued at the University, which requires that staff focus on key areas of opportunity and challenge for the Pacific and its people,” he said.

Mr Thompson said most of the research carried out at the University focused on the priorities of member countries.

USP’s Research Office organised Research Week to highlight the University’s achievements in various fields of research and research skill development. Part of the program for Research Week is a two-day Pacific Peoples’ Research Skills Symposium at the Holiday Inn in Suva, which starts tomorrow. It is expected to provide a forum to learn about institution-wide outcomes for the research skill development (RSD) initiative, case studies of practice using the RSD framework, and other universities or institutions approaches or models of engaged learning and teaching (MELT) to building research capacity of students and staff.

* Mereoni Mili is a final-year journalism student at The University of the South Pacific in Suva.