KEY POINTS:
Taranaki Maori own $768 million of assets, a report has found.
Now, commentators say, they need to get the best out of them.
Economists calculated the asset base from Maori employers, the self-employed, the $185.5 million Parininihi ki Waitotara incorporation, Treaty settlements worth $101 million, fisheries and some Maori land - not all such land could be identified.
The report, commissioned by the Maori development agency Tui Ora and the regionwide equivalent Venture Taranaki Trust, also said that Maori contributed $459 million or 10 per cent to regional GDP.
But although Maori owned significant assets, that didn't transfer into income statistics, and 83 per cent earned less than $40,000 a year against 74 per cent of non-Maori.
Tui Ora chief executive Hayden Wano said the report provided the first snapshot of the Maori economy in Taranaki.
"It's sitting there - I think now the question is how do we leverage off the collective? It gives some indication about what is emerging, and there is still future improvement in the asset base to be realised."
Part of the reason for the report was to provide a base line so businesses could plan development.
That was important, as in the next 20 years Taranaki's economy would grow faster than the national average.
To keep up, employment needed to grow 2 per cent a year, or by 21,800 full time equivalents by 2026.
Mr Wano said the report's figures also showed the contribution Maori made.
"I think there is a real perceived view that there isn't as much a contribution [by Maori] made to the economy," he said. "Hopefully this will put paid to that."
Venture Taranaki chief executive Stuart Trundle said the Taranaki business community couldn't afford to exclude Maori businesses from its strategic planning if it wanted to maximise potential.
"The strategic value of the Maori business sector cannot be overstated," he said.
"Nor can the report's bottom line - that developing a Taranaki economy of lasting, sustainable and significant value will require every aspect of the regional economy to work together."
