Hon. Feleti Penitala Teo is the Prime Minister of Tuvalu and currently the Chair of the Pacific Small Islands Developing States (PSIDS) group. He was a seasoned senior regional bureaucrat before he became a politician. Prime Minister Teo was elected unopposed as the 14th Prime Minister of Tuvalu in February 2024 after a month of becoming a Member of Parliament for Niutao. Teo was the Executive Director for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) based in Pohnpei State in the Fedretaed States of Micronesia from March 2015 to March 2023.
He was the inaugural Secretary General of the Pacific Island Development Forum (PIDF) from February 2014 to February 2015 based in Suva, Fiji. Prime Minister Teo was the Deputy Secretary General at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) from May 2007 to December 2013 based in Suva, Fiji; and was the Acting Secretary General from October 2007 to October 2008.
He was the Director General of the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) based in Honiara, Solomon Islands from November 2000 to November 2006. Prior to his regional public service, Prime Minister Teo was the Attorney General of Tuvalu from January 1991 to November 2000. He was the first law graduate for Tuvalu in 1986. Prime Minister Teo holds a Master of Law degree from the Australian National University in 1996; a Certificate in Government Legal Advisor Course from the University of London in 1990; and a bachelor’s degree of law from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1986. He attended Saint Andrews College in Christchurch, New Zealand where he won the senior dux award in 1982. He was initially educated at the Motufoua Secondary School in Vaitupu, Tuvalu. For his public services he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2013. He is married to Tausaga Talake Teo and they have 2 daughters and 2 sons.
