The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of supplier diversity as well as highlighting the ecosystem of large and small suppliers who work together to provide our goods and services. World Commerce & Contracting www.worldcc.com recently conducted a survey for our Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) community to understand their relationships with Corporates/Enterprises and Public Sector. It revealed a heightened interest in communicating and collaborating to reduce the barriers to engaging SMEs. For example, simplifying procurement, simplifying contracts, funding partnering projects and shortening payment terms.

Around the world, governments are implementing policy to support SME and Indigenous Procurement. In New Zealand The Ministers for Maori Development and Economic and Regional Development have recently announced a new target to encourage public service agencies to cast the net wider when awarding contracts. “The government spends $42 billion a year on procurement of goods and services. We are looking for more ways to use this buying power to accelerate the economic recovery for Maori businesses,” said Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson. Te Puni Kokiri (TPK) has contracted Amotai to offer intermediary services to make the connections between Maori businesses and buyers, as well as providing practical business support and training. Other organisations, like Akina, are helping to define and drive social value.

Through a series of WorldCC member meetings in 2021, culminating in our Vibe Summit in June, we will be exploring:

• 14 April 2021 – an interactive workshop on Agility, Visibility and Supplier Diversity using M/S Teams ‘Breakout Rooms’ – done
• 25 May 2021 – in person panel discussion with representatives of government buyers (Laurence Pidcock, GM NZ Govt Procurement), intermediaries (Mark Reddy, Head of Growth at Portt)and Maori suppliers (Helmut Modlik, CEO of Te Runanga o Toa Rangatira).
• 9 June 2021 – Vibe Summit keynote by Helmut Modlik, Chief Executive Officer at Te Runanga o Toa Rangatira Incorporated, on Better Contracts for a Better World.
• August 2021 – case study of successful engagement with Maori businesses.

During this meeting we will also be releasing our findings on our most recent research report on SME Ecosystems titled "MSME Ecosystems: The importance of and best practices for collaborating with Micro and Small to Medium Enterprise (MSME)".

Date, Time, Location :

Tuesday 25 May 2021, 4-5.30pm NZ time, Thorndon Room 1, Ground Floor, 114 The Terrace, Wellington Central, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

Join us after for social networking 5.30-7pm, Bethel Woods 73 The Terrace, Wellington Central, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

Participants:

All WorldCC members and guests. We encourage you to ‘bring an SME or Maori business’ to share their unique perspective and to build connections.