Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade — Manatū Aorere

Funds New Zealand diplomacy and development impact through bilateral programs, aid partnerships, and Pacific and Southeast Asia cooperation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT, Manatū Aorere) is New Zealand's foreign-policy and trade ministry, and it also owns the New Zealand International Development Cooperation programme. Its funding is official development assistance, with a published annual envelope of about NZD 40 million for the Partnering for Impact stream. The work is concentrated in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

MFAT funds registered New Zealand NGOs, universities, postgraduate researchers, and scholarship pathways for eligible students from developing countries. The core routes include the Manaaki Fund, which offers NZD 100,000 to NZD 1.25 million per approved activity, Negotiated Partnerships, NZ Disaster Response Partnership, postgraduate field research awards, and Manaaki New Zealand Scholarships. The scholarship programme is delivered by Education New Zealand, but MFAT remains the owner.

This is an ODA instrument, not a business grant office, so the public-facing fit is development outcomes, partner-country priorities, and measurable social impact. Applications tend to move through concept notes, annual rounds, and MERL reporting, with matched-funding expectations on the grant side. Teams that work with vulnerable or marginalised communities in the Pacific or Southeast Asia are the clearest match.