Focus area 3: Advance Māori employment and support Māori business and iwi organisations to be significant drivers of Auckland’s economy

Tāmaki Makaurau presents Māori with economic opportunities across many sectors. There is potential for innovation, entrepreneurship and increasing international business opportunities. 

Māori business leaders, iwi, Māori collectives, local government and others in the private sector need to work together to take up commercial and digital opportunities.

Support systems for Māori business owners need to be more accessible and well-coordinated, and enable the Māori business ecosystem to flourish. 

Māori businesses have a Māori way of doing business with an emphasis on Māori values, joint ventures and enduring relationships.

They are commercially driven with well-defined long-term goals that promote a 'quadruple bottom line' and grow the Māori asset base, creating direct benefits back to iwi. This embeds a process that both empowers communities and cultivates an untapped part of the economy.

A visible thriving Māori economy creates unique opportunities for Auckland. Greater Māori economic success will have benefits for all Aucklanders and contribute to the further development of an internationally attractive Auckland economy. 

Globally, consumers are increasingly interested in sustainable and responsible business practices and products.

This interest aligns well with Māori values, and provides an opportunity for Māori to continue to apply a te ao Māori approach that is of growing value to the world.

How this can be done

Areas that could be looked at include:

• supporting Māori business development
• boosting rangatahi participation in education and training
• increasing Māori employment and wages
• supporting collaboration of iwi and Māori collectives to share lessons and maximise economic value
• supporting a te ao Māori approach to Māori enterprise development
• supporting Māori entrepreneurial initiatives
• continuing partnerships between council and iwi.

Related information

• The Fourth Industrial Revolution
• Impact of new technology
• The Tripartite Economic Alliance
• The importance of soft skills
• Educational achievement of Auckland's children and young people
• Why lifting productivity is important
• Groups that experience poor education and employment outcomes
• Māori and Pasifika Trades Training programme
• Auckland Plan 2050 - Full Print Document (PDF 30.1 MB)
• Auckland Plan 2050 - Print document - Opportunity and Prosperity (PDF 1.4 MB)