About Us

This website is prepared to provide the Public access to information produced by the ministry and to keep you informed of what's going on.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Management (MFEM) was created with the enactment of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management Act (MFEM Act)1995-1996 at the outset of the Economic Reform Program in the 1990s.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Management was formed during the 1996 Reform Process and is frequently referred to by its acronym MFEM.

For further information please contact us by email at webinfo@cookislands.gov.ck

MFEM Director Profiles

Garth Henderson

Financial Secretary

Garth Garth is the Financial Secretary for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management. In this role, he is the principal financial and economic advisor to government through MFEM's six divisions; accountable for ensuring public service excellence through the effective and efficient delivery of the Ministry's functions and government policies.

Garth has worked in the Public Sector for almost 40 years, beginning with the Cook Islands Police Service in 1984. Prior to taking up the role of Financial Secretary in 2016, Garth led MFEM's Development Co-ordination Division (formerly known as the Aid Management Division) for almost six years. He was appointed Acting Financial Secretary in October 2010 for six months before taking up an advisory post with the Asian Development Bank in 2011.

Garth holds a BA in Management and Marine Affairs, Diploma of International Affairs and Master of Business Administration from the University of the South Pacific.

Economic Planning Division

Kai Berlick

Acting Director - Ecconomic Planning Division

Kai Kai is the Acting Director of MFEM’s Economic Planning Division. Since joining MFEM in 2018, Kai has held the roles of Senior Budget Analyst, Budget Manager and most recently, Deputy Director of Economic Planning. In this role, Kai has been responsible for the preparation of the annual Cook Islands Government Budget.

Prior to moving to the Cook Islands, Kai was a director for Morgan Stanley Singapore in their listed and over-the-counter derivatives division. In this role, he was a Lean Champion, responsible for spear-heading the implementation of various ‘lean management’ techniques in the Singapore office. This provided experience that has been of great relevance in improving the Cook Islands budget process. Before this, Kai was an account manager for JP Morgan in Australia.

Kai has a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) and Master of Technology Management from the University of New South Wales.

Treasury Management Division

Teu Teulilo

Director - Treasury Management Division

Teu is the Director of MFEM's Treasury Management Division. In this role he is responsible for managing the Public Financial Management (PFM) system in the Cook Islands, including scrutinising the quality of public spending and coordinating the preparation of and reporting on the Crown financial statements to Parliament. As part of this role, Teu is Chair of the Cash Management Committee. He is also on the Board of Directors of Avaroa Cable Limited.

Prior to returning to MFEM's Treasaury Management Divison in 2018, Teu worked as an ICT and Finance Officer with the Oceania Customs Organisation in Fiji, a System Accountant for Nauru Department of Finance. Before this, Teu worked in MFEM's Treasury Management Division, most recently as the Treasury Operations Manager.

Teu has a Bachelor of Arts, Financial Accounting and Management from the University of the South Pacific. He is a Chartered Accountant with CA ANZ.

Revenue Management Division

Xavier Mitchell

Director (Collector of Inland Revenue and Comptroller of the Cook Islands Customs Service - Revenue Management Division

Xavier Xavier is the Director of MFEM's Revenue Management Division. In this role he is both the Comptroller of the Cook Islands and Collector of Inland Revenue. Through both functions, the Revenue Management Division plays a key part in collecting revenue, facilitating trade and protecting our border.
As part of this role, Xavier is Chairman of the Oceania Customs Organisation Steering Committee and the Pacer Plus Regional Committee on Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin and Customs Procedures.
Prior to moving to the Cook Islands in 2018, Xavier spent 12 years working for New Zealand's Inland Revenue Department. During this time, he was an advisor to the Director of Business Planning and Integration, a member of Inland Revenue's Senior Management Team and managed the High Wealth Investigations Unit. Xavier also served on the Board of Directors for various Pacific health trusts in New Zealand.
Xavier believes that people are our greatest assets, developing great leaders is our best pathway to success, and that gender diversity across leadership roles is key to ensuring organisations have a wide range of thought and capability and reflect our community.
Xavier has a Bachelor of Management Studies, Finance and Economics and a Graduate Diploma in Accounting from the University of Waikato.

Cook Islands Statistics Office

Taggy Tangimetua

Government Statistician - Cook Islands Statistics Office

The Government Statistician's duties and independence are set out in the Statistics Act 2016. The Government Statistician is responsible for how and when official statistics is produced.

Taggy was appointed Government Statistician in 1996 and has contributed greatly to the development of statistics in the Cook Islands. She is currently active in statistical committees at the regional level elected as Vice Chair of the Pacific Statistics Steering Committee. Also an active member of the Pacific Methods board.

Taggy also holds the role of Chief Electoral Officer in the Cook Islands. Her knowledge and experience with elections is known in the region and is regularly invited as observer for their Elections. She has observed elections in Vanuatu, New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain. She has conducted a total of 6 Parliamentary General Elections and many By-elections, including Local Government Elections.

Taggy is a graduate of the University of the South Pacific with a Bachelor of Arts in Management and Economics, a Postgraduate Diploma of Commerce in Economics and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).

Development Coordination Division

Mani Mate

Director - Development Coordination Division

Mani Mani is the Director of MFEM's Development Coordination Division. In this role he has the responsibility to lead, manage and oversee the operations of the Development Coordination Division by providing oversight and management of all Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the development delivery of all ODA projects and targeted programmes in the effective delivery of outputs for the Ministry of Finance & Economic Management (MFEM).
Prior to this role, Mani was the National Programme Manager for the Adaption Fund funded project "Pa Enua Action for Resilient Livelihoods" (PEARL), where he was responsible for management of the National Implementing Entity and MFEM's accreditation to the Adaptation Fund.
Before joining MFEM in 2018, Mani worked in the hospitality industry in Aitutaki and Fiji. This included roles in Guest Services Management, Market Research and Resort Management.
Mani has a Bachelor of Commerce in Hotel Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Arts Tourism and Hospitality Management, Master of Commerce in Tourism and Hospitality Management and Postgraduate Diploma in Climate Change from the University of the South Pacific (USP). Mani is the President and Chair of the Student Council for the USP Students Association. He is also a member of USP University Research and Academic Programmes Committees and currently represents the Students Association to the USP Senate and Council.

Major Projects and Procurement

Angelia Williams-Tangapiri

Director - Major Projects and Procurement Support

Angelia Angelia is the Director of Major Projects and Procurement Support. She sits on, oversees and supports various Government Committees who play vital roles and make critical decisions in the Cook Islands Infrastructure Sector. These include the Project Coordination Committee as a sub-committee of the Infrastructure committee, and the Cash Management Committee that reports on the infrastructure cash position and projections and Incidental Management System. Under the Major Projects division, her team oversee and are secretariats to Procurement Tender Committee, Capital Distribution Fund Committee, Terai Vaka Committee and Infrastructure Trust Fund Committee.

Since joining MFEM in 2017, Angelia held various roles within the Budget and Economic Planning Division, before her current role as Director. These include Economic Analyst, Senior Budget Analyst and Budget and Planning Manager, responsible for the preparation of the annual Cook Islands Government Budget. She is also been a member of the Budget Support Group.

Angelia graduated with a Business degree and a Masters of Professional Accounting from Auckland University of Technology. She has also completed Debt Management Strategy, Asset Management and NZS: 3910 New Zealand Standard Contract courses.