November 06, 2016
Settlement money best hope for regional investment
An iwi leader in the Whanganui Manawatu area hopes a new economic development strategy document could help iwi as they look at using their settlement money.
Pahia Turia from Ngati Apa says Te Pae Tawhiti was written because Maori could not see themselves in the original regional growth strategy developed by central and loval government agencies.
He says it gives people a better idea of how important iwi, land trusts and individual Maori businesses are to the region.
“There’s not a lot of new money coming into our region and the new money that is coming in is mainly coming through treaty settlements. Only three iwi in the whole region have settled so a number are still coming through so we are really hoping this growth study will give them a plan to help inform they way they invest as they come through that settlement process,” Mr Turia says
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