6 Oct 2003

The Vice Chancellor of the University of the South Pacifc, Savenaca Siwatibau, has died

5:55 am on 6 October 2003

The Vice Chancellor of the University of the South Pacifc, Savenaca Siwatibau, has died.

Mr Siwatibau, who was in his early sixites, died in Christchurch in New Zealand after a prolonged battle with cancer.

He was the the Secretary of Finance in Fiji soon after independance in 1970 and later the first governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji.

He left Fiji soon after the military coups of 1987 to head the Vanuatu based regional office of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP, before taking up the Chancellor's position at the USP several years ago.

A distinguished economist, Mr Siwatibau was a strong proponent of good governance, transparency and the need to end corruption to improve the economies of the Pacific Island countries and lift their living standards