The Indigenous Peoples Economics Trade and Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA) is the first modern international Indigenous agreement with the purpose of facilitating trade among Indigenous tribes globally. IPETCA is designed to identify and remove barriers to global Indigenous trade as well as guide Indigenous trade responsibilities and conduct. Panel 1 focuses on how IPETCA can help strengthen Indigenous businesses and trade. Panel 2 is the IPETCA endorsement ceremony.

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Full Recording of Indigenous Trade Symposium (Day 1)

Full Recording of IPETCA Endorsement Ceremony (Day 2)

Official Press Release

Laura Berry – CEO, Supply Nation

Laura was appointed CEO of Supply Nation in 2015 following a career that has spanned both private and public sectors. Since taking the reins at Supply Nation, Laura has led the organisation through a significant period of growth: more than doubling the size and national footprint of the organisation, tripling corporate and government membership, and overseeing an explosion in spend with Indigenous businesses of nearly 3,000%.

Laura is a founding director of the Global Supplier Diversity Alliance, and in 2018, Laura was announced as one of the Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Women of Influence. During 2020 Laura served as a Commissioner for the Prime Minister’s National COVID19 Commission and is the current Australian Co-Chair of the Australian New Zealand Leadership Forum’s Indigenous Business Sector Group.

Laura is also a member of the Trade Minister’s inaugural Ministerial Advisory Council for FTA negotiation, a member of the Australian Design Council, an advisory board member of Uniq You and sits on the Telstra Indigenous Advisory Committee, and the McKinsey & Company and NRMA’s Reconciliation Action Plan Steering Committees. In 2021 Laura was welcomed as a member into Chief Executive Women. Laura also proudly supports female entrepreneurs as a SheEO Activator. Laura proudly identifies with her Aboriginal and Italian heritage.

Darren Godwell – CEO, i2i Global

Darren Godwell is one of Indigenous Australia’s most well credentialed executives. He has led many Indigenous companies as chief executive or from the Boardroom. He has completed executive education at INSEAD and MIT’s Sloan Management School. Highlights include serving as an Advisor to the World Bank, being appointed a Senior Fellow of the New York based Synergos Foundation, and working around the world in business strategy for global media conglomerate Bertelsmann.

Today he leads Indigenous management company i2i Development Global in support of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s official development assistance and on matters of Indigenous inclusions in international investment and trade. Darren is a co-founder of Indigenous led, industry association the Australian Indigenous Network for Investment, Trade and Export (IGNITE). Darren is a proud descendent of the Kokoberren peoples of Cape York, Queensland.

Wayne D. Garnons-Williams – Lead Indigenous Representative for Canada, Founding President of International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization, Senior Lawyer and Principal Director of the law firm Garwill Law Professional Corporation

Wayne D. Garnons-Williams, founding President of International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization and Senior Lawyer and Principal Director of the law firm Garwill Law Professional Corporation, leads an international business entitled Indigenous Sovereign Trade Consultancy Ltd. specializing in Tribal Trade and Sustainable Economic Development. He is past Chair of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Appeal Tribunal and is currently on the board of directors of the International Law Association – Canada chapter, Council of the Great Lakes Region, Capacity Canada and Board Chair of the 60’s Scoop Healing Foundation. He is also a Research Fellow specializing in International Comparative Indigenous law at the University of Oklahoma, College of Law. He was appointed by Order in Council as a member to the NAFTA Chapter 19 Trade Remedies roster and then appointed in 2020 as a CUSMA Advisory Committee Member on Private Commercial Disputes, Article 31.22. He has recently written a law textbook published by Cambridge University Press on International Indigenous Trade and is teaching a course based on his textbook as part of the Bachelor of Indigenous Entrepreneurialism Program at the University of Waterloo, St. Paul’s College campus. He is the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business 2019 Award winner for Excellence in Aboriginal Relations, the 2020 Queen’s University alumni award winner as well as the recipient of the 2020 Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) – International Legal Specialist in Peace, Justice and Governance Award. He is Plains Cree from Treaty 6, Moosomin First Nation.

Dawn Madahbee Leach – Chair of the National Indigenous Economic Development Board

She is also a proud member of the Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Central Canada where she has served as a member of her community’s Council. Since 1988, she has been General Manager of the Waubetek Business Development Corporation, an Aboriginal Financial Institution that provides financing and economic services to Aboriginal entrepreneurs and First Nation communities throughout North-East Ontario. Under her leadership, Waubetek has proudly invested more than $100 million in 3,500 Aboriginal businesses who experience a business success rate of 94%. Dawn was instrumental in the development of the OECD’s first-ever international Indigenous 2020 report on “Linking Indigenous Peoples to Regional Development”. She also led the development of the National Aboriginal Economic Benchmark Report (2012) and the follow-up National Aboriginal Economic Progress Reports 2015 and 2019.

Dawn is a graduate of the University of Waterloo Economic Developers Program. She also studied at York University and Laurentian University where she earned a degree in Political Science with a minor in Law. Besides serving on the National Indigenous Economic Development Board, she is also on the boards of Peace Hills Trust and NioBay Minerals Inc. She has been recognized with numerous national awards and has been a speaker at international forums in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Paris, Germany, the US and the UN on Indigenous economic development.

Bradley Young – Originates from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba and is the executive director of the National Aboriginal Forestry Association (NAFA).

He has contributed to numerous Indigenous Forest Sector initiatives in Canada and internationally, including co-chairing an official Indigenous meeting between Indigenous Peoples of the world’s forests and Maori at Turangi, New Zealand in 2019. He holds a Master’s Degree in Indigenous Governance from the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. NAFA is Canada’s national Indigenous Forest Sector voice. Over 80% of First Nations are found in the forest, holding over 19.4 million cubic metres of annual allowable cut in aggregate. Driving performance with these nations through Free, Prior and Informed Consent can create over 5,100 new jobs and over $2.4 billion in additional Gross Domestic Product, while protecting the environment and respecting culture. Most importantly, Bradley is a father to four, and grandfather to another four, Indigenous children. If he’s not at work professionally or culturally, you can find him with his partner and family in the bush hunting, fishing, trapping, or recreating.

Brandon Macleod – Senior policy advisor at the Métis National Council.

The Métis National Council has represented the Métis Nation nationally and internationally since 1983.

Patrick Snider – Represents the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP)

Patrick has 10 years of government relations experience, with the last 2 years working with CAP on issues ranging from election preparedness, environmental issues, trade, and education. His is conducting outreach, forming policy advice to CAP leadership and helping support CAP’s external communications and partnerships.

Information on CAP:

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP): is one of five National Indigenous Organizations recognized by the Government of Canada. Founded in 1971 as the Native Council of Canada (NCC), the organization was originally established to represent the interests of Métis and non-status Indians. Reorganized and renamed in 1993, CAP has extended its constituency to include off-reserve status and non-status Indians, Métis and Southern Inuit Aboriginal Peoples, and serves as the national voice for its provincial and territorial affiliate organizations. CAP also holds consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which facilitates its participation on international issues of importance to Indigenous Peoples.

Awi Mona (Chih-Wei Tsai), Sediq People – Associate Professor, Department of Law, National Dong Hwa University

Ever since he started his teaching career, Awi Mona has been focusing on the rights and obligations of the subjects of indigenous law (individuals, indigenous communities, and nations) as the center of his research and teaching. He explores the intersectionality between state laws and the subjectivity of indigenous law and looks out for approaches that can best protect and balance the rights of the subjects of indigenous law.

Awi Mona belongs to the Sediq people and is the first indigenous person in the country obtained a doctorate degree in law. As an indigenous scholar of law, he pioneers in the research area of indigenous law and human rights while making unique contributions to the study of law as a special expert of indigenous jurisprudence. The dual characteristics of his career substantially proved that he is one of the leading scholars in the field of human rights of ethnic groups and multiculturalism in law.

Yedda Palemeq, Paiwan People – Head of Administration Services, World Vegetable Center

Yedda Palemeq is of southern Paiwan descent, with father’s side coming from qinaljan seseveng in kasuga Township and mother’s side from qinaljan sepungudan in sinvaudjan Township. She holds a BA in Foreign Language and Literature from National Taiwan University (1999), a BA in History from Leiden University the Netherlands (2010), and a MA in History from Leiden University the Netherlands (2012). At present she is with the MA program of Linguistics at National Taiwan University until 2024.

Palemeq’s professional training in language and history provides her with the best epistemological tools to help advance Taiwan indigenous communities’ informed participation in international cooperation, indigenous language research and revitalization, and indigenous history and media development. From her time working as a Program Officer at Council of Indigenous Peoples (2005-2009, 2012-2014), a Researcher and Project Manager at Indigenous Language Research and Development Center (2014-2017), and Chief Executive Officer at the Indigenous Peoples Culture Foundation (2017-2018), she exhibits strong managerial skills in promoting local build-up progress by connecting with international support.

The global indigenous community, Palemeq believes, is one that transcends state borders and should be conceived as such a united force in order to break through any hurdles that lie in the face of implementing universal indigenous rights. Her current position as Head—Administration Services Center (2018- present) at the Headquarters of the international governmental non-profit organization World Vegetable established in 1971 enables her to see the process in which a different international initiative of food safety and nutrition gains worldwide support under a pyramid of intricate international instruments. These are the insights she will exploit for advancement of indigenous causes.

Hua, Wei-Jie (Jack Hua), Paiwan People – Founder of Splendid Marketing Ltd.

Hua Wei-Jie, the founder of Splendid Marketing Ltd., belongs to the Paiwan people. After studying abroad for years, he returned to his hometown-Taiwu, realizing that the development of local industry in his tribe remained stagnant. He was determined to prosper his hometown and boost the economy of the people, so he devoted himself to the development of local industry.

Splendid Marketing Ltd. was established in June 1998 as a team of Paiwan indigenous people. Over the past 12 years, it has accumulated guidance and marketing energy for the implementation of local industries in aboriginal areas. The experiences contain those of indigenous industry marketing, regional revitalization, industry counseling, talent training, resource inventory, channel development, marketing activities, international conferences, Austronesian exchange activities and Austronesian forums. In recent years, its development has advanced with the times, and the achievements have earned recognition for the development of omni-channel operation in virtual-real integration and that of e-commerce for indigenous industries.

Liu, Da-Wei, Atayal People – Founder of Two Percent Co. Ltd.

Two Percent Co. Ltd., is one of the indigenous enterprise supported by CIP’s Taiwan Indigenous Startup Program. The company is composed of a group of ideal and creative team, hopes to bring consumers into the new realm of indigenous culture, and connects indigenous culture with cities through the transmission of touching, sharing, cohesion, value.

By using raw materials, the company’s brand – Nature, hopes to minimize the design and integrates into modern life. They also devotes to regenerates betel leaf sheath to transform the products into daily necessities. In this way, we inherited the ancestors’ wisdom which has maintained a friendly land till nowadays.

Chen, Yu-Ju, Atayal People – Founder of Na Sun Na Gu Co., Ltd

Chen received his master degree in public administration at National Dong Hwa University. He left his position as a section head at the Township Office of Nanzhuang Township, Miaoli County in 2018 and dedicated wholeheartedly to promote the natural beauty of his hometown, Nan’ao. To increase his homeland’s touristic visibility, he established Na Sun Na Gu Leisure Farm in 2018. The farm’s mission is to promote the beauty of indigenous land and community and has become a popular camping choice which has attracted more than 30,000 visitors every year since it was open for business.

After the operation of the farm was on track, Chen moved on to build the brand “Na Sun Tubing Trip”, taking advantage of the Nan’ao South River next to the camping ground of Na Sun Na Gu. The privileged location offers farm guests a fun and close-to-nature experience enjoyed by Atayal children. The brand offers outdoor tours like river tracing and tubing. Professionally certified guides, SOP and comprehensive protective gears ensure trustworthy quality of service, allowing the guests to comfortably enjoy a ride with lavish magnificence of nature.

Since the start of the farm’s operation, it has attracted news coverage every year and more than 80,000 people to visit from across Taiwan. Those celebrities who have come to Nan’ao to enjoy therapeutic magic the tubing experience include the former Minister of Transportation and Communication, social media influencer Brian Tseng and entertainer Chris Wang. It is the philosophy of Na Sun Na Gu that to its guests, the farm is a home away from home and it always welcomes its guests to come back with open arms.

Traci Houpapa – Chairperson, Federation of Māori Authorities

Traci is an award winning company director and a recognised industry leader. She is a trusted advisor to Maori, Government, public and private sector entities on strategic and economic development, and is known for her strong and inclusive leadership and her clear focus on building the wealth and prosperity of Aotearoa New Zealand. Traci is a Chartered Fellow of the NZ Institute of Directors, and a recognised as a role model for other directors and business leaders. She has been named as one of the top ten most influential women in NZ agribusiness and the Listener’s top ten influencers in NZ.

Traci won the Westpac Fairfax Media Women of Influence Board and Management award and has been named on Westpac’s NZ Women Powerbrokers list. Traci has been awarded the Massey University Distinguished Alumni Service Award for services to New Zealand agribusiness and Maori, and named amongst the BBCs 100 Most Influential Women in the World. Traci has an MBA from Massey University and is a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, a Justice of the Peace and a Marriage Celebrant.

Harry Burkhart – Iwi Chairs Forum

Harry Burkhardt is of Ngāti Kuri and Swiss whakapapa. He works with others locally, nationally and globally who have a similar passion to see the best for our future generations. He provides significant commercial and governance experience across a wide range of private and public sector groups.

His iwi is focussed on shared prosperity, community resilience and self-determination. This requires working alongside those with shared values, principles with a common purpose. “Imagining our future through our indigenous frameworks is a prerequisite to responding to the cracks in our communities.”

Tessa Gudgeon – Māori Women’s Development Incorporated (MWDI)

Tessa Waikari-Gudgeon is of Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Porou, Ngati Tuwharetoa descent and is the Programs and Communications Manager for Māori Women’s Development Incorporated (MWDI).

Māori Women’s Development Incorporated is an Indigenous wahine (women) led organisation established in 1987, committed to encouraging the economic development of wahine Māori and their whanau (families) to ensure that Maori share in and contribute equitably to our nation’s cultural, spiritual, economic, social and political achievements through its programs and services.

Tania Te Whenua – Te Taumata

Tania Te Whenua (Tūhoe, Whakatōhea) BA LLB AGNZ is principal of Te Whenua Law and Consulting, and a member of Te Taumata, the Māori International Trade Advisory Board administered by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Tania is also the lead Māori Advisor to the Asia NZ Foundation and lead Māori Advisor to the New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils.

Ma te wahine me te whenua ka ora ai te iwi – Through women and land, people endure. Tania is passionate about economic equity for Māori women, and environmentally sustainable economic development. She is a Chartered Associate Member of Governance New Zealand and an Executive Committee Member, Governance New Zealand Women on Boards, an Executive Committee Member of Lawyers for Climate Change Action NZ, a member of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council Rivers Advisory Committee, and a Local Government Development Contributions Commissioner.

As a Waitangi Tribunal lawyer Tania represents the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and the New Zealand Public Service Association with respect to their claims against inequities facing Māori women in employment and economic development; and co-counsel to former NZ Māori Council Chair Maanu Paul in respect of his claim against the New Zealand Government’s failure to adequately respond to climate change and the resulting impact on Māori wellbeing and economic interests.

Maui Solmon – Ngā Toki Whakarururanga

Maui is of Moriori, Ngāi Tahu and Pākehā ancestry. He has over 30-years’ experience as a Barrister who has specialised as an advocate for Moriori, Māori and Indigenous Peoples in the field of cultural and intellectual property and other resource rights. He was senior legal counsel on the Wai 262 Claim over a 20 year period and members of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission from 2001 to 2005 during the allocation of commercial fisheries assets. Maui appeared in the Privy Council in London in 1996 on the Treaty fisheries case and has appeared and made submissions on numerous occasions at the World Intellectual Property Organisation dealing with Indigenous Peoples issues, Convention on Biological Diversity and at the UNDRIP forum in New York and Geneva.

He has participated in several Indigenous caucuses at these various international fora. Maui was President of the International Society of Ethnobiologists from 2008 to 2010. He has numerous publications to his name on intellectual property related issues and is currently the Chairman of Hokotehi Moriori Trust and Co-Chair of the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Peace and Conflicts Studies Trust. He lives on Rekohu with his wife looking after the family whenua.

Riki Manarangi – Te Tira Whakangoi (T3W)

Riki is a strong believer that his strength is to see things holistically, in that everything is interconnected. He gains this lens from being Māori (Ngati Whakaue, Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Raukawa), Pacific Island (Rarotonga, Cook Islands) and Pakeha (Ireland) lineage.

One of his passions is to make sure any opportunity considers the strength of this same holistic outlook and does through his peer-topeer delivery start-up as well as his consultancy business to assist Pakihi (businesses) with business advisory, digitization and strategy implementation. In the APEC 2021 kaupapa (capacity), Riki represents Te Tira Toi Whakangao which is the representative entity on behalf of the rapidly increasing Māori tech eco-system.

He is a University of Waikato graduate having degrees in Law (LLB/LLM) and Management (BMS/MMS), enrolled Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court and current NGO responsibilities include Chair of Birthright NZ, Key Relationships Manager of the Waikato Branch for the New Zealand Shareholders Association, and a Trustee of Birthright Waikato and Link House Trust.

Annette Sykes (Technical Adviser) – Ngā Toki Whakarururanga

Annette Te Imaima Sykes is of Ngati Pikiao and Ngati Makino descent, which are hapu that form part of the confederated tribes of Te Arawa Waka. She is a Principal/Director of her own law firm Annette Sykes & Co which has a strong focus on all aspects of law as they affect Maori. She has been a committed human rights activists in a range of contexts and is committed to effecting constitutional change for over 35 years. She has had a long involvement in the Waitangi Tribunal Claims process which focused on issues arising from the Wai 262 Cultural and Intellectual Property rights of whanau hapu and iwi being affected by Crown policy to their detriment.

Annette was an inaugural member of Te Mangai Paho the Maori Broadcasting Agency established following successful claims to the general courts with respect to Te Reo Maori. She was an inaugural member of Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd and appointed Deputy Chairperson to that board as part of the Maori Fisheries Settlement in 1989. She has represented Maori in a number of fora within the United Nations framework and has been an adviser on issues ranging from the trafficking of women and children in the South East Asian Region; promotion of a Nuclear Free Independent Pacific; and has represented Maori World Conferences Against Racism and the Marginalisation of Indigenous Nations. She has held significant roles in a number of companies and entities promoting sustainable Maori development.

Annette is presently a member of Te Kahui Wai Maori, in an advisory capacity to the Crown, on questions of freshwater management and sustainability. More recently she has taken the lead role as counsel in claims pursued by Maori against the Crown with respect to the CPP TPPA and the adequacy of provisions therein to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and give effect to its principles as part of Free Trade negotiations and implementation processes. She is a mother and grandmother and a committed member to her tribal communities that she is accountable to and whom have actively supported her in her career path.

Jane Kelsey (Technical Adviser) – Ngā Toki Whakarururanga

Jane Kelsey is a Professor of Law at the University of Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand. She has law degrees from Victoria University of Wellington, Oxford University and Cambridge University and a PhD from the University of Auckland and specialises in international economic regulations, law and policy, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi and decolonisation. Jane has worked with Māori on domestic and international law issues for many decades and was the claimants’ expert during the Waitangi Tribunal claim on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. She is the technical adviser to the Working Party to establish Ngā Tōki Whakarururanga, a Tiriti-driven entity being established as a result of the Tribunal claim to advice the Crown on trade policy and negotiations, and participating in the APEC IPECA process in that capacity.