FOMA's 2026 flagship national gathering, branded the FOMA Economic Forum 2026, is a one-day conference on Māori economic leadership and enterprise held at Te Puia in Rotorua on 12 June 2026, closing with the FOMA Awards Gala Dinner.
The Federation of Māori Authorities (FOMA) holds its 2026 national gathering as the FOMA Economic Forum 2026, a one-day conference at Te Puia in Rotorua on Friday 12 June 2026. According to FOMA's official event site, registration opens at 7:30 AM with the main programme running from 8:00 AM to around 3:45 PM, followed by the FOMA Awards Gala Dinner from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The day opens with a whakatau hosted by Te Arawa and carries the theme "Mai Maketū ki Tongariro", framing a programme on Māori economic leadership, trade, sustainability and enterprise.
FOMA, the Federation of Māori Authorities, is the organiser. Per its own website, FOMA was established in 1974 following a Commission of Inquiry into Māori Reserved Land and was convened by Sir Hepi Te Heuheu to bring together Māori economic authorities as a body distinct from the Māori Council. FOMA describes itself as the largest network of Māori freehold landowners in the country and one of the most significant land-based economic collectives in Aotearoa, representing Māori incorporations, ahu whenua trusts, post-settlement governance entities and Māori land-based businesses. Its flagship annual gathering has run under several names over the years, including the National Conference & Annual General Meeting and, more recently, the FOMA Business Summit (the 2025 summit was held at The Narrows Landing in Hamilton on 3-4 April 2025); the Economic Forum is the 2026 edition of that national event.
FOMA states the forum is aimed at Māori leaders, iwi representatives and economic stakeholders from across Aotearoa. The programme is pitched at a governance and enterprise audience, with sessions on positioning in a shifting world, sustainable environment and economic development, trade and export pathways, Pacific (Te Moana Nui a Kiwa) trade partnerships, forestry innovation, regional enterprise showcases, and next-generation leadership.
The forum is held at Te Puia in Rotorua, a Māori cultural centre set in the Te Whakarewarewa geothermal valley that Rotorua's regional conference body lists among the city's event and function venues. Rotorua sits in the central Bay of Plenty and is served by Rotorua Airport, with regional domestic connections, and is roughly a three-hour drive from Auckland. As a long-standing business-events destination the city offers a concentration of accommodation and the Energy Events Centre among its larger conference facilities, giving delegates options within a compact lakeside centre.
FOMA's national forum is a recurring, association-driven business event that draws Māori economic leadership together in a single programme, and its 2026 edition anchors that activity in Rotorua rather than a main-centre convention hub. For the New Zealand MICE sector it is an example of a nationally significant association conference choosing a regional, culturally grounded venue, supporting business-events demand and the awards-dinner and hospitality spend that come with it outside Auckland and Wellington.
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