CONNECT 2026 - Connecting Aotearoa to a Global Indigenous Business Movement

Last month, Amotai brought together Indigenous business networks from across the world — first in Aotearoa, and then in Boorloo, Perth, for Supply Nation CONNECT.

For Amotai, this is about more than attending international events. It is about building the relationships, knowledge and pathways that connect Aotearoa to a growing global Indigenous economic movement.

Building the relationships in Aotearoa first

The journey to CONNECT began a week earlier, when Amotai hosted Supply Nation and CAMSC alongside Māori and Indigenous leaders, iwi, partners, stakeholders and buyer members through our inaugural Executive Exchange.

We intentionally brought together dual Amotai–Supply Nation buyer members - organisations with a global footprint and a commitment to supplier diversity and procurement outcomes for Indigenous, Māori, Pasifika and other minority-owned businesses.

The Exchange created space to share approaches to Indigenous procurement, supplier diversity and economic development, while building relationships that can extend across markets and create opportunities beyond individual transactions.

Those relationships then travelled with us to Boorloo.

CONNECT 2026 | Boorloo

Amotai led our fifth delegation to Supply Nation CONNECT, bringing Māori and Pasifika-owned businesses together with Indigenous businesses, corporates and governments from across Australia and around the world.

This year, our delegation connected with Indigenous business and procurement networks from Australia, Canada, the United States and Taiwan, strengthening relationships that have been developing over several years.

The opportunity extends well beyond CONNECT itself.

• Māori businesses connecting with Aboriginal businesses.
• Iwi connecting with Indigenous corporations.
• Buyers sharing procurement approaches across markets.
• Indigenous economies building relationships with Indigenous economies.

And we are already seeing those connections progress.

One delegate has since submitted a tender through the Global Indigenous Travel Alliance, while another has soft-launched an Indigenous consulting collective involving 10 companies across Australia and Aotearoa.

As one delegate reflected:

Another captured the wider potential:

“There is a real opportunity to build stronger pathways for our firms to compete for larger, higher-value work… CONNECT also showed me the potential to export our knowledge, expertise and IP into other Indigenous markets.”

For another delegate, the value was simply in being part of something bigger:

“Being surrounded by likeminded Indigenous people and businesses allows you to grow faster and explore more opportunities you would not necessarily uncover yourself.”

These connections create opportunities to share knowledge across supplier diversity, Indigenous procurement, ESG, social procurement, investment, major projects and economic development — while opening potential pathways for Māori and Pasifika businesses to trade, partner and expand internationally.

For Amotai, this is an important part of our role.

Our international relationships give Māori and Pasifika-owned businesses access to networks and knowledge that can continue well beyond a single event. They also create opportunities for our buyer members, iwi and partners to connect with organisations working towards similar outcomes internationally.

The next opportunity is to build on this momentum - strengthening the relationships, supporting our businesses to pursue the opportunities they uncover, and creating more pathways for Indigenous-to-Indigenous trade and partnership.

The relationships built through Executive Exchange and CONNECT are part of a much bigger picture: stronger Indigenous economies, greater self-determination and more opportunities for future generations.

A huge thank you to our 2026 delegation, our hosts and partners - particularly Supply Nation, EY and Arup - and to everyone who continues to invest in these relationships.

The mahi continues. The relationships deepen. And the opportunity is global.

He waka eke noa — we move further when we move together.