Pouli Dr. Keneti Faulalo is the first Chief Executive
Officer to lead the Samoa Export Authority.
The appointment, inked by Cabinet at its weekly meeting Wednesday 13 th June 2024, three
other candidates applied and were interview for the post.
A 1980 Samoa College alumni, Pouli continued his education with the New Plymouth Boys
High School marching on to the University of Canterbury to graduate with a Bachelor of
Science complemented by a Master of Science with Honors.

A son of the ‘Aiga Sā-Matiū
from Utuali’i village, Pouli
brings more than two
decades of work experiences
in international development,
with a strong focus on the
sustainable development
issues of Small Island
Developing States (SIDS).
As an international
Consultant, he was a Senior
Technical Adviser for UNDP
and FAO projects around the
Pacific islands in the areas of
sustainable agriculture,
sustainable value-chains and
transformation of food
systems.
Prior to working as an
independent Consultant, Dr.
Faulalo spent10 years in the
United Nations-system as a
UNEP Officer in the Pacific
islands and then as the Inter-
regional Advisor in the
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) in New York on
SIDS issues and subsequently on water and climate change adaptation.
Before the United Nations, he served as a Programmer Manager for Pacific regional and
multilateral environment programmes in the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (NZ
MFAT).
He was also a lecturer at the National University of Samoa and a Post-doctoral Research
Fellow at the School of Agriculture for the University of South Pacific.

On a voluntary basis, he is on the Executive Boards of the Samoa Cancer Society and of the
Sosaiete Fa’asao o Samoa/Samoa Conservation Society. He is also the Chair of the interim
Board of a new NGO in Samoa called Live&Learn Environmental Education (LLEE-Samoa).
Under the umbrella of the Ministry of Public Enterprises, the Samoa Export Authority is one
of the key initiatives highlighted in the Government’s manifesto.
The authority will start with the exportation of agricultural products with the long term target
for all exports to come under the Authority’s microscope.
Pouli’s appointment is for three years.