BREAKING: Cabinet appoints new CEO for Ministry of Finance
Cabinet has approved the appointment of Saoleitiiti Maeva Betham Va'ai as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Finance.
Ms Betham will assume the role replacing Leasioasio Oscar Malielegaoi, who has been the C.E.O. the last 3 years.
The position for this role has been vacant since last year after the former CEO resigned.
The new appointment was announced today by the Prime Minister Hon Fiame Naomi Mataafa during her weekly press conference.
The newly appointed C.E.O. was the A.C.E.O of the Ministry of Finance and is currently the Head for the World Bank agents in Samoa.
Ms. Maeva Betham Vaai joined the World Bank in 2009 as the first Liaison Officer for the Joint World Bank Group and Asian Development Bank Liaison Office established in Samoa. By 2016, she became solely responsible for the World Bank Group.
Prior to joining the World Bank Group in 2009, Ms. Betham Vaai was an Executive Director’s Advisor to the Asian Development Bank Board of Directors from the period 2006 to 2009, as a representative of the Independent State of Samoa. Before that international posting, Ms Betham Vaai joined the Samoan public service as a Finance Officer with the Treasury Department in 1992 and made her career as a public servant until 2006. She was appointed as the Assistant Secretary Finance in 2001, responsible for the preparation and monitoring of the national budget as well as monitoring of aid funded projects. Under government reforms, she was re-appointed as the Assistant Chief Executive Officer Finance for the Ministry of Finance (formerly the Treasury Department) from 2002 to 2006 with similar responsibilities.
Ms. Betham Vaai holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Ateneo De Manila University, Philippines and a Bachelor of Business (Majoring in Accounting) from the University of Central Queensland, Australia. She holds the chiefly title of Sa’oleititi from Saleilua, Falealii. She is married with two daughters and lives in Apia