The opportunities have never been greater for Māori organisations and businesses, due to cultural alignment and key shifts happening globally - but it will require courage, confidence and ambition to capture the opportunities and to forge a new path.

This is the central theme to emerge from a newly launched report, titled Māui Rau: Adapting in a Changing World. This report has been co-authored by Riria Te Kanawa and Joe Hanita of KPMG, and Jamie Rihia from ASB Bank.

It was compiled from a series of 13 roundtable discussions held with Māori businesspeople and leaders, across New Zealand’s major cities and regional towns.

“The message that strongly emerged was that our future success will depend on having the confidence and courage to simply ‘be Māori’ ”, explains Riria Te Kanawa, a Director with KPMG.

The Māui Rau report includes several case studies which showcase Māori entrepreneurs succeeding in future-state industries such as neutraceuticals and ICT, and new markets such as Asia and the United Arab Emirates.

Another key theme was the importance of preparing tamariki to become future global citizens. This will require a more relevant education approach, with exposure to STEM learning (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

The report also looks at the emergence of innovation in Māori SME sector; and that kind of thinking could well be useful in our collectives.

“We believe the Māori private enterprise sector has the most potential to create jobs and resources at whānau level, and ultimately secure the economic well-being of our people,” explains Joe Hanita, an Associate Director with KPMG.