Rimbink Pato

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 4 May 1961) is a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

n constitutional lawyer and politician. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2012 to 2019. Pato is the head of the United Party and its sole MP, representing Wapenamanda Open. Pato was awarded an Order of British Empire (OBE) by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in recognition of services to the community and law.

Early life

Pato is from Kopya Village, Wapenamanda,

Enga Province Enga is one of the provinces in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Enga is geographically situated in the northern region of Papua New Guinea and was separated from the adjacent Western Highlands at the time of national independence in 1975. The majority ...

. He attended Wamapisa Primary School and Pausa Lutheran Secondary School. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

in 1986, and then went on to the Legal Training Institute.

Career

Prior to becoming a politician in 2012, Pato was a prominent practising lawyer in PNG, and was involved in significant cases. He was Managing Partner with Steeles Lawyers, which later re-established as Pato Lawyers, with Pato remaining as Managing Partner. From 1999 to 2001, Pato was Executive Chairman and CEO of the Finance Pacific Group of companies, which included Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation Ltd, Rural Development Bank Ltd, MMI Pacific Insurance Ltd, and Motor Vehicle Insurance Trust Limited. Pato was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the 2012 general election, as MP for Wapenamanda, representing the United Party. Despite being a first time MP, Prime Minister

Peter O'Neill Peter Charles Paire O'Neill (born 13 February 1965) is a Papua New Guinean politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 2011 to 2019. He has been a Member of Parliament for Ialibu-Pangia since 2002. He was a fo ...

appointed him Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration. He has since played prominent roles, often as chairman, in the

Pacific Islands Forum The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an inter-governmental organisation that aims to enhance cooperation among countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 197 ...

(including representing the Prime Minister at the Leaders' meeting), the

Melanesian Spearhead Group The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is an intergovernmental organization, composed of the four Melanesian states of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front of New Caledonia. In ...

, and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States. Pato has also chaired and co-chaired high-level sessions at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. Pato has conducted many significant negotiations on behalf of Papua New Guinea, including on delicate topics such as the Manus Island refugee arrangements. He has met in bilateral and multilateral meetings, as well as on social occasions, with his counterpart Foreign Ministers and national leaders of other countries. As an envoy of O’Neill, Pato has delivered the Country Statement for Papua New Guinea on several occasions at the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

, most recently on 29 September 2018. Pato held the Immigration Portfolio from 2012 to 2017. In 2017, he was reappointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs and in addition was assigned the Trade Portfolio. He attended the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

11th ministerial conference 2017 in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

as Minister for Trade. Pato chaired the Ministerial Session of the 2018 APEC Economic Leaders Summit in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

. As part of the First Marape Cabinet, he lost his ministerial portfolio, but was appointed Special Envoy of the Prime Minister on International Affairs, a role he still holds.

Personal life

Pato is married to Joyce Pato, and they have three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pato, Rimbink Living people Alumni of Glasgow Caledonian University Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea Officers of the Order of the British Empire Government ministers of Papua New Guinea Ministers for foreign affairs of Papua New Guinea 1961 births People from Enga Province

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References