About 1000 jobs are on the cards when retail outlets in Damodar City Labasa begin to open up towards the year-end.
Damodar Group CEO Div Damodar said the majority of the complex had been taken up, mostly leased out as retail spaces, with at least two or three shops to one company.
“A lot of our tenants are targeting an opening in September, October, and November, so 2023, definitely we’ll have a lot of outlets open. At the moment there’s a lot of fit-out process going on, lots of tests, lots of products coming in. And we’re looking at the amount of employment that’s going to be created to be around a minimum of 1000 people new jobs that’s going to be created in Labasa when these shops are finally open for business,” Mr Damodar said.
Among some new names that would be housed in Damodar City Labasa are Extra Supermarket, The Hot Bread Kitchen, and Shanghai Seafood Restaurant as well as new outlets by existing operators such as Bondwell, Dollar Things, and Damodar itself, which will open new hotel behind the complex.
“We’re doing a 40-room hotel with a conference facility of 80 people, and that’s looking at a 2024 opening,” said Mr Damodar.
“So again, it brings a new lifestyle, more employment opportunities, and a lot of new businesses that will be created in Labasa, such as catering, cleaning, security companies, so suddenly supply chains are being opened up.”
Vanua Levu, he said, remained a market with huge untapped potential.
“When we went there, we did a lot of research, and we found a lot of opportunities there. We spoke to a lot of Viti Levu operators about the opportunities there. They went over, did the numbers, and found the same,” Mr Damodar said.
Vanua Levu is one of Fiji’s tax-free regions, in which the Government offers a number of tax-free incentives for new companies engaged in trade, business, or manufacturing in the region.
