FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Europeans, Asians or Americans, alone or in groups, our visitors are usually guided in Kor Landa workshops by Amaury or Rey.
We asked them what questions they had to answer most often.
Cebu was for a long time the “shells paradise”. The stalls in Punta Engano, where were meeting the collectors from all over the world, enable the birth and growth of a unique craft activity. In the early eighties, the thousands of workshops everywhere on the island developed an exceptional skill in shaping mother of pearl and other natural materials. For nature lovers, there was no other option. And there’s still none. And it’s actually a luck because working with the Filipinos and Filipinas is a real delight.
The initial reasons of this choice were the following :
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- A foreign company could not be owner of its building outside the economic zones
- The MEZ administration was assuring an uninterrupted electricity supply, at a time where the power outages could last 6 to 8 hours a day.
- The Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) is exceptionnaly well located. It adjoins the seaside and the international airport of Cebu.
- All the import-export formalities are highly easier in an economic zone
- We were able to enjoy a tax exemption for 3 years.
In hindsight, we can confirm that the first advantages of our establishment in MEZ are in fact the quality of professional life, the ease to hire, and the efficiency provided by a quality international environment.
Not directly. We are in a business sector where creativity is an essential value. The cultural diversity gave to the Filipinos and Filipinas a particular place in the artistic domain. Their legendary happiness help them to overcome the unavoidable daily problems.
If the majority of the societies in MEZ are Japanese, since a couple of years, Chinese companies are applying to implant in the zone. China is the most promising market for our creations.
No, and it’s one of the reasons why it was chosen.
We are a little bit more than 300, 40 different jobs, in a parity almost perfect.
Kor Landa is producing 4000 to 5000 jewels references yearly which means the use of more than 10000 components references.
The diversity of our customers always made us very flexible. Each case is unique. This versatility, acquired within the years, enables us to answer efficiently to the current reduction of production quantity.
Quickly after our establishment in MEZ, our supply sources became diverse. We are now in a “return to the roots” tendency and we make the local materials our first choice. With 7640 islands, the Philippines have a lot to offer.
Cebu is the second port of the Philippines. Almost all of the raw materials are brought by ship. Same go to the machines, tools and consumable for the metal work. In the other way, the export is mainly by plane.
There is infinity of possible configurations; each brand has its own specific requirements. We create a unique development process for each of them.
It really depends if you’re taking into account or not the creation and the development of the prototypes.
We also need to consider the number and the complexity of the interventions. Depending on those parameters, an average delay should be between 6 and 8 weeks.
The workshops are open without interruption, except for the end the year. Christmas is a very important festivity in the Philippines and the « Kor Landa fiesta » is always a big celebration of joy and sharing.