The announcement of a $30 million Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchard investment partnership will help bring some of the region's significant economic growth potential to life, says Quayside Holdings Ltd chief executive officer, Scott Hamilton.

The partnership, between Quayside Holdings and Te Tumu Paeroa, involves the establishment of kiwifruit orchards on more than 90 hectares of underutilised Maori land spread throughout the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne regions over the next 18 months.

The development is the single largest investment in kiwifruit on Maori land to date.

Te Tumu Paeroa and Quayside have developed a model to provide capital investment into underdeveloped Maori land, says Scott.

The model allows full ownership of the orchards to transfer to land owners after achieving a targeted rate of return on capital invested.

In the interim, the land will be leased by the investment partnership, which will build and operate the orchards.

Horticulture and Maori land utilisation are clearly identified as areas of opportunity in the Toi Moana Regional Growth Study, offering genuine commercial investment prospects that would ultimately lead to an improvement in Maori welfare, says Scott.

In addition, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research prepared an economic impact report which showed the investment partnership will boost GDP in the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne by expanding production capacity – creating more jobs and lifting real wages in both regions.

'Effective and efficient utilisation of Maori land, through the likes of kiwifruit development, represents one of the greatest opportunities for growth in the wider Bay of Plenty region. However, many hapu have not yet built the capital with which to develop their land,' says Scott.

'The partnership between Te Tumu Paeroa and Quayside provides this investment, enabling the land to be developed, investors to derive economic returns and optimised for the land holders future gain.

'Te Tumu Paeroa and Quayside co-invested into Opotiki Packing and Cool Storage Limited in December 2015 and share the same inter-generational approach to investment, with economic, regional, and land owners benefits being targeted. So it makes sense for us to work together on this programme.”

Quayside Holdings

Established in 1991, Quayside is the investment arm of Bay of Plenty Regional Council. It is, via a subsidiary, the majority shareholder of the Port of Tauranga Limited and an issuer of securities on the New Zealand Exchange. Quayside has a diversified investment portfolio which includes property, shares and Kiwifruit orchards. Quayside continues to seek new regional opportunities for investment with which to further diversify its income base.

Te Tumu Paeroa

Te Tumu Paeroa is an independent, professional trustee organisation providing services to Maori land owners. It manages 100,000 hectares of Maori land, 2000 trusts, and over $100m in client funds on behalf of 85,000 owners. The vision is to support owners to use their land to its fullest potential – creating a legacy for this generation and the generations that follow.

Toi Moana Regional Growth Programme

The Toi Moana Regional Growth Programme is a partnership between the Ministries of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and Primary Industries (MPI) at a central government level, and the Bay of Connections at a regional level.

The original Regional Growth Study sought to identify a range of short to medium-term realistic opportunities that could help increase investment, employment and incomes in the wider Bay of Plenty.

In conjunction with industry, iwi and community organisations from across the wider Bay of Plenty, the study resulted in the development of an Action Plan, with implementation activities focused on nine key areas including Education and Skills, Aquaculture, Forestry, Geothermal, Visitor Economy, Agribusiness, Māori land utilisation, Horticulture and Water.