Finance Minister Grant Robertson says the Māori economy could be worth more than $50bil.
The minister met with a Māori business network in Wellington and says more data is needed to work out how much revenue is generated from both small and medium Māori business enterprises (SMEs) to work out the value of the Māori economy.
Meanwhile, a Māori businessman is frustrated at the lack of information about a Māori economy estimated to be worth between $20-$50 billion.
Te Awe Wellington Māori Business Network Chairman Wayne Johnston says, "It would be nice to have that breakdown, SMEs are 'x', Auckland is 40 percent of it, Wellington is 20 percent of it and so on and so on, but I haven't yet seen a list, which I think would be helpful.”
Robertson says it's important that government supports Māori and Pasifika businesses to work together and for government to understand the issues facing them.
“We can't do that if we don't know who the Māori businesses are, so that's something I can take back to MBIE."
Johnston says there is a widespread misconception that iwi were the big earners in the Māori economy.
“That’s absolute bulls**t, it’s small to medium enterprises.”
He also says it's unclear what contribution Māori SMEs make to the economy because they were largely overlooked.
"Someone here said 90 percent of NZ businesses are made up of SMEs, now there's a lot of SMEs inside iwi as well but there is a big category of Māori businesses, SMEs, that aren't accounted for and I think people overlook how strong we are. Like I said in the room today, we had over $100 million worth of business."
Robertson says he understands the Māori economy value estimates were largely drawn from post-settlement entities meaning the value of the Māori economy could be much higher.
"Absolutely. And I think the value of Māori businesses is huge and we know more and more Māori businesses are getting into exporting and that adds value to it as well so we are committed to supporting that."
The minister says he wants to elevate Māori business, Johnston says for that to happen SMEs need to be listened to, seen and understood first.