Jaipur: The Chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), Mr. Praveen Shankar Pandya today said that aggressive generic marketing for colored gemstones is a must. He emphasized on the need to focus on colored gemstones after diamonds, mainly in terms of aggressive promotion. A marketing model similar to diamonds should be adopted, he said. He gave an example of how a sum of $200 million USD was spent for the generic promotion of the diamonds. A similar amount, if not more, should be spent on the consistent generic promotion of coloured gemstones.
Mr Pandya was delivering the keynote address at the International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) Congress 2017 today at Hotel Fairmont in Jaipur. This year the ICA Congress is witnessing participation of over 275 members from 25 countries, which also include 100 Indian jewellers.
Mr. Pandya further said that the mining operations of colored gemstones must be structured and they need to be conducted on a largescale. A Mining Policy also needs to be in place for colored gemstones. Modern facilities must come up for colored gemstones in the manner they came up for diamonds in Surat. A change in the method of selling also needs to be adopted. E-Commerce platforms specifically designed for gems and jewelry need to be created.
Chairman of the GJEPC further added that consumer confidence is significant to success in this industry. Customers need to be educated and provided with certified preferences. Specialized workforce should be educated in the crafts of the industry, human behavior and management to break the bounds of this traditional industry and introduce new blood. He further advised that taxes like GST need not be confronted but should be embraced. By adapting the industry to the plethora of laws and policies transparency can be maintained in the operations. In the long run, it will help give a significant boost to the industry.
The Chairman also announced the upcoming ‘India’s Rough Gemstone Show’ which will be held in Jaipur from 8 to 10 January. This show will witness participation by numerous rough gemstone manufactures and sellers.
Earlier, the Chairman of ICA Congress 2017, Mr. Rajiv Jain welcomed the guests. He said it was indeed a matter of pride that Jaipur was hosting the ICA Congress for the second time. Jaipur is also India’s second most important gems and Jewellery exporting center and stands No. 1 in sales to foreign tourists. The speakers at the Congress will cover the most recent and important development in the international trade scenario. One will get to feel the pulse of the global markets and trends at this prestigious event, he said.
The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) Congress 2017 witnessed its first day with numerous sessions on Gemstone Mining and Gemstone Manufacturing; Large Scale Gemstone Mining & Its Future (Sean Gilbertson); the Future of Ruby Gem Mining & Trends (Federico Barlocher); Mass Production of Gemstones (Nirmal Bardiya); History of Gem and Jewellery Manufacturing in Jaipur (Sudhir Kasliwal); New Technique in Gemstone Manufacturing (Deniel Benjano), among others.
On the occasion apart from the Chairman of ‘ICA Congress Committee 2017’ other Steering members including ICA Congress Director, Mr. Nirmal Bardiya; ICA Congress Director, Mr. Vijay Kedia; ICA Ambassador, Mr. Mehul Durlabhji as well as Members, Mr. Ajay Kala, Mr. Alok Sonkia, Mr. Arun Gokharoo, Dharmendra Tank, Kamal Kothari, Mahavir Sharma, Sudhir Kasliwal and Sudhir Kothari were also present.
