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KOHA: So what drives your particular approach to commerce?
MJ: I’ve always been fascinated and passionate about economic development as a tool for advancing communities and societies, especially our Pacific people. The whole Pacifika notion is very powerful and one of the components which optimises the perceptions of the Pacific is the ‘pure’ component. There is a Pacific mystique that enhances and encapsulates our vast clean environment that covers Te Moana Nui A Kiwa and our diverse cultural heritage.

KOHA: Do you plan to work with other Pacific exporters?
MJ: Yes. Our ecosystems are still in tact compared to Europe, the United States and even Australasia to a point. There’s an important need to capture that purity of the Pacific in one brand obviously, like New Zealand’s brand. We have to create a common powerful Pan-Pacific brand for all our products especially around horticulture, agriculture, and aquaculture. We have traditions that we can use to build that kind of notion. Obviously our collective origins to Hawaiiki is a potential brand that could bring us all together.

KOHA: What opportunities are there to build relationships between Pacific Nations?
MJ: As Pacific leaders we recognise that tangata whenua have really moved very quickly over the last 20 to 30 years in terms of economic development. It’s very much at the forefront of driving Mäori forward and a lot of commercial expertise already exists in Mäoridom. Other Pacific peoples realise that our door into Mäoridom is the fact that we have a shared whakapapa and vice versa. So I think its about strategically coming together to identify a way forward around that kaupapa of a Hawaiiki confederation.

KOHA: And what do you think should be the aim of this Hawaiiki confederation?
MJ: It’s a kaupapa that could be similar to the Federation of Mäori Authorities where economic development could optimise our advancement for our people and optimise returns for the next generation. I think Mäori have really been developing a level of leadership that can move more of our people from unemployment and poor education to the head of enterprise where we shape our own destiny and our future. Hawaiiki is a powerful waka and it’s up to the leadership realm to ensure that all our Pacific peoples aren’t left behind.

By Semiramis Holland

As the world becomes more globalised, the ability to communicate clearly and connect with clients and suppliers abroad can have a major impact on a company’s success. Communicating in a variety of languages can help to secure or compete for business more effectively, and improve business relationships overall.

A new software package developed by Sophie Tauwehe Tamati (Tainui, Tühoe, Ngäti Tüwharetoa) could provide a solution and also contribute to attracting global business opportunities for the Mäori economy. Sophie has designed and patented a rapid Mäori language learning tool called ‘Hika’. The technology can be applied to translate any language for global business communication and language education.

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“You cut out all the anxiety that most foreign language learners face in a classroom environment. I want to make it fun and interactive,” says Sophie.

“My genuine passion to revive te reo Mäori is the driving motivation behind setting up Hika,” she says.

“Hika can be accessed through any PC, IPhone or cellphone. The Hika software includes a range of learning products currently written in Mäori only. But in less than five years time Sophie Tauwehe Tamati says Hika will have the capability to offer all major foreign languages around the world.”

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“The Tenths has an ongoing responsibility to administer the Reserves. It provided the support to allow our people to negotiate the Port Nicholson Block settlement with the Crown. Their role is ongoing as mana whenua, the settlement process won’t change that and as a result our role continues,” explains Sam.

“It is important to ensure when we undertake the whakatuwheratanga (formal openings) we reaffirm the mauri (spirit) and linkages to the whakapapa of the tangata whenua who hold mana whenua over this region,” explains Kaumätua Sam Jackson.

“We recognise our role is to share, teach and guide the up and coming generations in the history, tïkanga and te reo of our people to ensure the mana of the whänau, hapu and iwi are maintained,” reiterates June who is always adorning her raukura, the three feathers notifying kinship to Te Ätiawa, to emphasise her point. Their positive but demanding role is complemented by the respect shown throughout the Wellington community and nationally.

A decade ago (or less) the philosophy that drove much of New Zealand’s political, economic and business leadership saw those leaders show scant appreciation or investment in the potential of Mäori and Pacific businesses. A common perception was that the Mäori and Pacific role in employment and GDP measures were mainly expressed in labour force statistics. The departments that looked after Mäori and Pacific interests were Mäori Affairs and Social Welfare.

Whilst it was acknowledged that Mäori and Pacific businesses held many resources, notably in the primary sector: fishing, farming and forestry, both Mäori and Pacific were in the greater scheme of things seen as ‘bit players’ in these sectors. Having Mäori and Pacific representation on primary industry boards or senior management roles was as rare as a winter with no rain in Auckland.

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“We at FOMANA Capital are committed to exploring commercial and community advancement programs with the Pacific business leadership. The cover story, illustrates this. Michael Jones talks about Pacific brands, Pacific exporting, Pacific marketing and his presentation to the Mäori Fisheries Hui in Hawke’s Bay earlier this year for a Mäori-Pacific ‘Hawaiiki Fisheries’ confederation-conglomerate rang positive bells with us and many Mäori commercial businesses.”

“Change offers Mäori and Pacific a platform for re-positioning. Change is a re-balancing system. It is now over to Mäori and Pacific businesses. High value niche markets are hungry for a difference. The Pacific Advantage is intergenerational businesses combined with authenticity and Mäori and Pacific stories. The Power of the Pacific is re-establishing. Brown is the New Black.”

We all know the story of fast food: ingredients are processed from unknown origins, grown with chemicals by low-paid workers and over consumed as high-calorie, low-nutrient foods. Fashion works in a dramatically similar way. Fast fashion involves a sort of homogeneity of style. This translates to resource-intensive, disposable clothing.

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“We strongly believe that ‘food is culture’. The philosophy that we’re trying to educate people about is to trade up to a better way of eating,” says Italian gastronomist Gianluigi Zenti.

“In Italy, food is culture and food is passion. We’ve been successful in promoting food outside of Italy because we are not in the business of selling products, we are in the business of selling stories.”

“Italian people think about New Zealand as a very far away land, but with a lot of tradition, history and culture. Our perception of Mäori is that there is a lot of pride and a lot of appreciation regarding where the food comes from; the territory, the land and the people.”

“There is a culture here that should be explored because the real driver is not the ingredient, it’s what is behind the ingredient. I would be interested in proposing the idea of Mäori culinary centres that provide a new kind of experience because Europeans are looking for that.”

“Food companies have a higher responsibility to contribute to the world to make the world a better place to live, and that’s what I think Mäori culture can contribute to create this diversity.”

Earlier this year, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully announced NZAID’s “sustainable economic growth mandate,” which will align aid policy with trade policy in the Pacific region. Around $240 million is currently spent on Pacific aid but under the government’s plans, a greater share of the funds will be allocated to economic development. But NZAID and the consultants and agencies that it supports are now coming under increasing scrutiny.

“A lot of aid money going to the Pacific is actually spent on NZ organisations to go over and do the work and just treat us as projects,” says Tongan educationalist Timote Vaioleti.

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“The time is right to reforge our relationships in the Pacific as Mäori now have the economic presence or baseline to consider what benefit we can be to others. Seafood is obviously a key sector that Wakatü could help with especially in countries like Tonga and Rarotonga who have little fishing infrastructure.”

“Mäori investment would be more than welcome because they would understand our culture and values of manaaki, aroha and respect for tangata whenua.”

“What we need is a political relationship which will then lead to an economic development relationship which should serve to keep our whakapapa bonds strong.”

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“A lot of proposed ventures could have got off the ground long ago but convincing owners to think about developing joint venture relationships is the hard part at this stage. We’ve all got to make a commitment to be part of the same brand.”

“The CNI tribes, which include Te Arawa, Tainui and Tuwharetoa, now control 30% of region’s land base and could transform the Mäori economy, says Short.“ The obvious outcome of investing into geothermal energy is wellbeing for our people. There are a number of spin offs for local employment including community electricity generation, health and tourism.”

“We need to be more aware of how carbon reduction legislation will impact on the investments we are currently choosing. What is required is an upscaling of research and development but that means more coordination between the private and public sector.”

“FOMA Te Arawa is open to the focus around bringing the major players together. It’s about sharing knowledge and sharing experience between the bigger trusts who are already developed and the smaller trusts within the
FoMA membership.”

“We could carve out our own niche through a coordinated investment in geothermal energy but we have to be really aware of the bigger kaupapa and sometimes that means looking beyond our immediate knowledge base. The success of our generation will be judged not by our words but the decisions we’re currently making.”

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“The issue of ownership and control for Pacific nations will no doubt become contentious given that they are attempting to fast track legislation without the benefit of adequate research to help them understand their seabed environment, the ecology and its true value beyond their
traditional knowledge. ”

“Compared to Mäori, the Pacific communities relationship with their surrounding oceans is a much stronger and more inseparable part of their culture, identity and way of life. Their interconnectedness with the cycles of the sea makes them to some degree dependent on it for their survival.”

“As customary resources increase in value, pressure to have them removed from any traditional hold will mount, and technologies that can unleash the untold potential may also cause immeasurable harm. No-one knows for sure what the environmental impact will be, but critics point to the negative impact dredging and increased turbidity will have on plankton that form the base of the ocean’s food chain.”

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“In the scientific race to quell climate change, the global clean-energy technology market has become the fastest growing industry in the world. By 2020, China will double its ability to generate its energy from renewable sources and plans to invest US$200 billion to get there. US president Obama is expected to invest US$150 billion in a similar plan.”

“Access to energy is needed for growing prosperity, not carbon emissions – the unwanted byproduct. Growing prosperity in the 21st century must therefore take carbon out of the equation.”

“What we have got is capability around renewable energy. We led the world in the development of geothermal energy throughout the 1950s and 60s. A lot of geothermal energy now being generated around the world is being run by engineers that we trained in New Zealand,” says Mulcare.

“A lot of that forestry resource will be owned by Iwi and there’s a lot of technologies that we’ve seen around about how you use that forest biomass and residues for value-added applications from biofuel to chemicals,” says Mulcare.

“What we’re trying to do is get some thinking around climate change as an opportunity. This could be our vehicle for economic transformation,”
says Mulcare.

Papua New Guinea is pushing new initiatives across forestry and agriculture, climate change mitigation, and biofuels and tourism, which it says provide sustainable economic and environmental benefits

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“Dr Ruth Turia, of the country’s national forestry authority, says the emphasis on sustainable land use could double the value of the logging industry for indigenous peoples as well as preserve the land for future generations.”

“Currently, the commercial forestry sector is dominated by foreign companies who favour straight unprocessed logs – there’s much more scope for value added products here, such as furniture.

“At the moment, about 6,000 Papua New Guineans are employed across the US$170 million industry. The plan should encourage a greater focus on value added products that will create many more jobs and increase the skills of our people. We think that we can more than double the value of this sector to local people, while empowering communities to manage their own land according to their own needs and culture.”