Dahia Shoes had just recently launched their very first Fiji-Made Tapa Range of shoes which will be known as the ‘Dahia South Pacific Range’. With all the National focus on the ‘Buy Fiji Made’ products, they’re anticipating that as soon as these shoes hits the shelves, ladies looking to make a bold fashion statement will be going ‘shoe crazy’.

This range is now being showcased at the Australian Shoe Fair in Sydney. The Tapa Range of shoes are made from traditional Fijian clothing material (known as Tapa), coconut shells and magimagi (pronounced ‘Mangi Mangi’) which is coconut fiber that has been blended with traditional shoe making leathers. With this unique fusion, the team at Dahia have combined distinct art forms from two cultures; hand-made artifacts from the Pacific that date back to ancient Fijian times and hand-made shoe making, a trade that has been passed from generation to generation in India.

“We started by visiting the handicraft markets in Suva to locate various artists we could work with. For our first range, we have worked with two masi artists, a carver, a coconut button manufacturer and a supplier of magimagi”, said Mr. Dahia

He also mentioned that like all fashion houses, his company will be releasing a new range every six months. The Tapa Range of footwear took over six months of research and ideas to evolve into a collection of smart casual wear products. It offers trendy and unique styles with Pacific Island flavor not found anywhere else.

At the Dahia Shoe factory, a dedicated research and sampling team develop all the new ideas, then sample and test every line before they are released into the market. Mr. Dahia assured the quality of their products revealing that the masi is treated with a special sealer to prevent “weathering”.

Dahia Shoes hopes to showcase their new lines in America and Europe later this year, with future plans to move into Asia. As many nationalists and naturalists like to say “Culture is more than a footnote” and for the Dahia family and their team of seasoned workers, this means innovation and ideas that will take them on the footpath to greater success.

The extension of the trading scheme by Australia means that under the agreement, certain textiles, clothing and footwear goods that are manufactured in Forum Island Countries (FICs) including Fiji will be exported to Australian and New Zealand markets on a duty free basis. The scheme has been extended till 31st December 2014.

The garment and footwear manufacturing industry is a major contributor to Fiji’s economy, generating millions of dollars in exports each year. The Minister for Foreign Affairs for Fiji, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola welcoming this scheme highlighted that the TCF industry plays an important role in alleviating poverty and engendering social equity.

“90% of employees in the industry are women and in most cases the sole bread winner. The industry employs 4000 workers but indirectly impacts nearly 12,000 people. Through the scheme, there is potential to turn the garment industry around and increase its contribution towards Fiji’s GDP and social development,” said Ratu Inoke.

The South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement (SPARTECA) was signed by most Forum members at the Forum’s Eleventh Meeting in Kiribati on 14th of July, 1980. It came into effect for most Forum Island Countries from 1st January, 1981.

For Fiji in particular, the extension means that the major markets for Fiji’s TCF output will not face any potential loss of revenue due to the elimination of a relief mechanism that has provided genuine competitive support.

The EPA is a scheme which is implemented to create a free trade area (FTA) between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of states (ACP). This agreement is aimed at promoting trade between the two groupings through trade development, sustainable growth and poverty reduction. They are set out to help the ACP countries merge into the world economy and have a piece of the opportunities offered by Globalization.

Industries in Fiji are also involved in the EPA. Properly managed trade can help Fiji’s development by creating employment, reducing average prices, generating income and giving access to a wider range of good- quality products. Fiji and Papua New Guinea signed the interim EPAs with the European Union in 2009. Any company that signs this deal will receive duty free entrance (Bilateral) by EPA participatory countries.

The benefits that the EPA brings to Farmers and Manufacturers are as follows:

1. Access to larger free market including EFTA countries

2. No Quotas, No Duties on exports to the European Union

3. No undue competition

4. No shocks- EPAs will implement in a way that avoids unnecessary shocks.

5. Coverage of services and foreign investment

6. Building regional markets to boost trade between ACP neighbors and regions

7. Wider reforms to strengthen the law and attract local foreign investment.

The EPA is a great opportunity for Fiji manufacturers to access new markets competitively. We encourage all TCF members to look into how you can individually and collectively open up new doors.

Always remaining committed to the community is a core principle of Mr. Mark Halabe, director of Mark One Apparel. With a strong focus on driving forward projects that resonate down to individuals; Mark One is lending its considerable clout to numerous goodwill projects. One such project is replacing the roof of the P.J.Towmey Hospital in Tamavua. Another project is their hosting one of the biggest morning teas for cancer and yet another is hosting a Blood Drive every six months, as Fiji is perennially short on donor blood.

The P.J. Towmey hospital treats various skin diseases, something that is highly prevalent in our tropical climate. With a dilapidated roof, Mark One Apparel decided to help get things moving for the sake of the many sick and unfortunate. This successful goodwill project was accomplished in February this year with a resounding and hardy thanks emanating from the Hospital administration.

The ‘Biggest Morning Tea’ for cancer research and patient support is a very important even in Fiji. The hosts take this very serious and it brings the nation together. Hosted in Fiji in July, there were many participants for this event. Mark One stepped up to be one of the larger hosts of the ‘Biggest’ event. Mark One has served as a host for this event for the past 3 years with each year resulting in more funds raised and more participation. Mr. Halabe mentioned that one small idea which happened to germinate into a big donor funds was where the management, administration and team leaders of Mark One provided a dish to sell during the tea and lunch breaks and with each dollar raised, the company matched that amount. In Fiji we call this Double Up!

Lastly Mark One Apparel also hosts blood drive events every six months, where the management, the administration and the staff donate blood for the major hospitals around Fiji. With such major shortages in Fiji, every drop of blood can truly mean the difference of a life saved.

Mr. Halabe urges all the members of the public to regularly take part in this event and support it.

Currently, there is limited fashion designing and fashion–based manufacturing in Fiji. If Mark Halabe, owners of Mark One Apparel has his way, this will change dramatically over the next decade. Mark One Apparel manufactures predominantly corporate attire. For Mr. Halabe, who sees the fashion industry as a vibrant and growing opportunity where he feels Mark One and other Fiji clothing manufacturers are uniquely positioned to support, it’s an opportunity worth investing in.

This type of move could result in massive changes to the industry. It could mean an opportunity to promote entire lines of fashionable clothes from Fiji and more importantly, local fashion designers. In order to make this change the company is in the process of retooling and re-engineering some production lines to be even more ‘Fashion-friendly’. Mr. Halabe has joined in alliance with Ellen Whippy, overseer of the successful Fiji Fashion Week and with Mr. Rob Cromb, a fashion designer from Australia, to initiate the production of trendy women’s fashion from his company as well.

Mr. Halabe also thinks that sourcing qualified lecturers to teach and train local fashion designers here in Fiji will be a major mile stone and is working towards this goal. This will provide locals with high-skilled career option here in Fiji and additionally will serve as a launch pad of recognition for these people both here in Fiji and internationally. The major support will come through programmes offered in conjunction with the Fiji National University and the Training Productivity Authority of Fiji (TPAF).

The ‘future’ of ‘fashion’ in ‘Fiji’ looks to be ‘Fiji Fantastic’!!!

We talked with Fiji’s former Textiles, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) council president, Mr. Mark Halabe, along with the current TCF council president, Mr. Kalpesh Solanki , about how Fiji is working together to take on the big boys of the manufacturing industry.

Mr. Mark Halabe elaborated at great length on the ‘small volume’ niche that Fiji has in supplying garments to the Australia and New Zealand markets. He went on to demonstrate how his company has successfully re-engineered for shorter runs and more custom orders. He has also constantly strived to improve logistics to deliver the goods in a competitive time frame.

Mr. Solanki echoed Mr. Halabe’s comments and went further to emphasize the entire manufacture base of Fiji needs to optimally gear up and promote itself for overseas niches. With Australia’s minimal wage nearly eighteen times higher then Fiji’s, he feels they could deliver high quality goods into Australia far more competitively then those manufactured locally.

Mr. Solanki then noted that the TCF Council Fiji was recently audited and showed that they have some of the highest scores in worker conditions.

“It’s important to remember that our cost of living is significantly lower then Australia’s, and it’s a great opportunity for the Australian distributors and retailers to take advantage of this”.

Mr. Halabe also elaborated on the EPA (European Partnership Agreement) implications and how they offer access to not just Australia but to a huge number of other international markets and more than hundreds of millions of new end-users. He mentioned about his own company’s shift in local productions that continues to focus on smaller and smaller runs, on maximizing production efficiencies and on increasing its presence in the fashion industry.

All in all, Fiji has uniquely positioned itself in a time where retail stores constantly are looking to carry less and less inventory, while continuing to be a quality provider of cost competitive clothing. For Fiji, when wholesalers and retailers worldwide are seeking cost effective, small order purchases, it’s the perfect storm of economic opportunity for our resilient, innovative and experienced manufacturers.

Two of the major clothing manufacturers in Fiji, Mark One Apparel and Lyndhurst Limited recently held blood donation drives in their factories to support Fiji’s call for greater reserves. The response of the workers was indeed magnanimous as a high percentage of the workers offered to donate… however their goodwill gesture unveiled a deeper and more serious problem.

At Mark One, of the 200 workers screened, only 45 were deemed healthy enough to give blood. That is a remarkably low percentage but sadly this falls in line with some recently published Fiji health statistics.

Fiji Village reported on 7th October

Only 16% live to 50 years

“Following the recent health symposium, the Health ministry is addressing lifestyle disease mortality rates through prevention strategies and increasing awareness at community levels.

This is after revelations that only 16 per cent of the country’s population live to 50 years of age while only 8 percent live beyond 60 years of age and that diabetes affects 18 per cent of both major ethnic populations in the country.â€�

Those are some frightening statistics!

The health checks conducted at Mark One and Lyndhurst identified a wide range of problems including high blood pressure and this only served to confirm the already documented poor health standard amongst many Fijians. While the TCF Council of Fiji takes pride in its ethical treatment of our working staff, we still recognize that an even bigger picture includes a strengthened alliance with the government’s health ministry to educate people on proper diet.

We’re all for it… we get to perform some genuine goodwill along with the added bonus that a healthier worker is one factor in helping to foster happier workers and happier workers are more likely to be productive workers… a classic win/win.

And let’s not forget, here’s a shout out to Mark One and Lyndhurst for assisting with Fiji’s blood drive. Cheers to them.

TCF Council of Fiji soon to arrive on the shores of Australia
The 17th to the 19th of November, Melbourne Exhibition Centre… be sure to mark this one down on your calendar.

We’re coming and we’re armed with all sorts of new news and new developments. Collectively as a unified industry we’ve been at it hard now for more than 3 years reinventing and redefining ourselves and we love what we’ve become… and so will you.

So if you are in the neighbourhood, why not consider dropping by our ‘Make it in Fiji’ booth at the upcoming Australian International Sourcing Fair, 17-19 November, Melbourne Exhibition Centre – we’d love to talk to you.

If you can’t make, no worries… drop us a line (679) 330 9603 or Contact Us through this site and we’ll give you all the details you needs on why you should ‘Make it in Fiji’.