Jewelers unite to bear the economic crunch

Staging their first-ever international show dubbed as “Bijoux Cebu,” players from the fashion jewelry industry are looking for brighter prospects of harmonizing the grave impacts of global market slowdown to their exporting businesses.

Amidst the crisis that the export industry is facing, Bijoux Cebu Chairman Butch Carungay is optimistic that their event will provide their sector a chance to “put their heads together” and work as a group.

He said that in previous years during the “heydays” of the industry, most exporters have been working individually like an island unmindful of other players and other concerns of the sector. 

But with the impacts brought about by the economic crunch, players could no longer deny the need to come together and express their creativity and come up with relevant events that will spur growth in their sector, he said.

And Bijoux Cebu is one of the ways that the fashion jewelry sector can control their costs, increase revenues and create a demand that can harmonize the losses incurred from the global market slowdown, said Carungay.

“Our sales and growth has gone down like most of the export sectors. Our industry is cyclical and seasonal in nature and we have reached the low end of the cycle. This has become a perfect storm of challenges coming together in one swoop brought about by weakening global economies, high oil and commodity prices in the demand side and there has been rapid increase of competition from products in China for the supply side,” said Carungay.

“This has made us realize that in times of challenges and crisis we need to work together and join our heads together for us to cope up and come up with an event such as this,” he added.

He also said that with so many products in the market, there is a need to come up with a different marketing concept and Bijoux Cebu will focus on the promotion of green advocacies inherent in their thrust of bringing out the image and quality of their jewelry into a higher level price-wise, quality wise and design-wise.

The trade event is scheduled right after the September 2008 edition of the Asia’s Fashion Jewellery and Accessories Fair (AFJAF) in Hong Kong since a number of AFJAF buyers already visit Cebu after the show either for business and pleasure. Bijoux Cebu is offering these buyers both commercial and social experience that will give them even more reason to go to Cebu after AFJAF, explained Carungay.

Aside from highlighting the promotion of the so-called eco-chic fashion trend, Bijoux Cebu was also designed to become an interactive and experiential trade show that would build on industry knowledge, business relationships and social responsibility.

Meanwhile, Janet Chua, president of the Fashion Accessories Manufacturers and Exporters Foundation Incorporated (Cebu FAME) said that with the present slowdown in the market, there has been a shortening of the supply chain and this has been noted for the past years as retailers and wholesalers nowadays are going direct to manufacturers.

Taking into consideration these changes in the supply chain, she said that they are expecting to generate a buyer profile of importers who have been buying in bulk and retailers and wholesalers in the coming trade event.

Bijoux Cebu is slated this coming September 20 to 22 at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa that will be participated in by international buyers from all over the world.