The Cook Islands Investment Corporation (CIIC) Group recently held a successful Strategic Retreat. Attended by the Minister for CIIC and Prime Minister Mark Brown, the CIIC board, management, the Chairs and CEOs across the CIIC Group and invited external panel members, the purpose of the retreat was to enable a review and to revive CIIC’s vision, direction, and priorities. .
The CIIC Group, comprises of various entities and State-Owned Enterprises (including the Cook Islands Government Property Corporation, Airport Authority, Avaroa Cable Limited, Bank of the Cook Islands, CIIC Seabed Resources Ltd, Ports Authority, Te Aponga Uira, Te Mana Uira o Araura Ltd and To Tatou Vai Ltd).
Michael Henry, Chairperson of CIIC, remarked “that the strategic retreat was an opportunity for the organisation to take in as much as we can to ensure the strategies we have in place, the vision we have in place, are relevant and are reflected by the people of the Cook Islands. Only by working together are we able to maximise and leverage off the assets and the people we have, for the benefit of all the people of the Cook Islands.”
In his opening address the Prime Minister reflected on his decade as Minister of CIIC and remarked that the transformation had been “quite remarkable”.
“In these COVID-19 time, it is important we all appreciate that we have to do the same if not more, with the same if not less. In other words, our challenge is to more innovative than we have been in the past, and it also means working better together. It’s a marathon that lies ahead of us, not a sprint; we need to plan well and stick to the plan.”
The Strategy Day included panel discussions, with participation by Liana Scott, President of the Tourism Industry Council, Alex Herman, Seabed Minerals Authority Commissioner and two senior Tereora College students Sharleen Akaruru and Mario Robati.
CIIC Board Director Caren Rangi, who facilitated various sessions at the retreat, said that “including an external panel at our retreat was a critical ingredient of the retreat, as the panel is a representation of the people we serve as an organisation and their contribution and feedback is invaluable to us in terms of developing a meaningful and connected strategy.”
Liana Scott appreciated the opportunity to participate, noting to not only speak but to listen to speakers from the various divisions, departments, and entities that CIIC is responsible for.
On the day Liana noted “you tend to forget what assets the Crown owns and when we talk Crown it is the people of the Cook Islands who own these assets, assets such as stadiums, schools, our utilities and BCI. When I leave here today, I am going to make it one of missions to encourage Cook Islanders to take an interest, get involved and learn more about the CIIC Group and how they can contribute”.
“An amazing and interesting experience” was how Sharleen Akaruru described the day. Her highlight was the discussions on the cultural side of things, including our reo. She noted it was quite involved and shared her observation of how some of CIIC’s projects impacted on her and her peers.
“The Tereora College Project and the Nukutere College rebuild could only be described as positive initiatives and demonstrated the Government’s commitment for caring for the youth and the future of young Cook Islanders” commented Sharleen.
Mario Robati remarked that the strategy day had “broadened his view of the world and Cook Islands society. I did not appreciate until today the CIIC group and its assets and the huge impact that they have on our country and society.
Before the day-long retreat the CIIC Board and management team concluded that its current vision “effective and efficient public assets that improve the wellbeing of Cook Islands people”, needed to be updated to better reflect its connection with the public, stakeholders, and staff.
Te au apinga puapinga te ka tauturu i te iti-tangata Kuki Airani
Quality assets that serve the Cook Islands people.
A longer version was prepared to better explain the revised CIIC vision as follows:
Tau meitaki no te akakoro’anga, akatuke atu i te au apinga no te katoatoa te ka oronga mai, tauturu mate akameitaki atu i te turanga ora’anga o te iti-tangata Kuki Airani
Fit for purpose, transformational public assets that deliver, serve, and improve the wellbeing of the Cook Islands people, in harmony with our culture and our environment.
Strategy workshops held on the day identified key focus areas for CIIC in the short, medium, and long term.
“CIIC’s strategic programme was now following a collaborative and robust process, which can be built on, refined and improved into the future” chair Michael Henry noted in his closing comments.
More detail on CIIC’s refreshed strategy will be shared in CIIC’s Statement of Corporate Intent (SCI), which is required to be published annually and will be published in the middle of this year.
The public can view CIIC’s previous SCIs on its website www.ciic.gov.ck
CIIC encourages feedback on the vision statement. Please email your thoughts to ciic@cookislands.gov.ck or phone +682 29391.
