Beware of blood diamonds, India warns (Lead)

New Delhi, The guns may have fallen silent over "blood diamonds" but the situation remains fragile and it was necessary to ensure that diamonds sold by rebel groups who mine them illegally are not allowed to enter the global market, India told a global diamond conference here Tuesday.

"Our vigil is not over. And we must continue to be alert and active," Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai told the annual conference on the Kimberley Process Certificate Scheme (KPCS) here. India is its current chair.

"The guns are becoming increasingly silent, but we must be alive to the fact that several fragile situations exist," he told the delegates from 34 out of 74 countries that are members of the Kimberly Process.

Under the initiative of the United Nations, KPCS seeks to ensure that only those diamonds that are sold by legitimate entities - as opposed to rebel groups - enter the global market.

"We must also find solution to the problem of fake KP certificates. It undermines the very core of what KPCS wants to achieve. The problem must be addressed."

Pillai said India's diamond industry, which registered export of over $13 billion last fiscal, was one of the biggest success stories, even though it was the IT industry that gets more publicity.

He said the diamond industry here provided jobs to over one million people and had a 60-percent share in the world's polished diamond industry by value and about 82 percent by volume.

Representatives from 34 countries are participating in the three-day conference, aimed at eliminating conflict or "blood" diamonds. India, which became its chair for a year beginning Jan 1, is hosting the conference for the first time.

Some of the key participating nations are Australia, the US, the UAE, Canada, Congo, Israel, Liberia, Namibia, South Africa, Russia, China, Britain, Romania, Brazil, and Tanzania.

Business Barons from India & Thailand meet at FICCI Global Business Forum at the IIFA Bangkok

Mumbai: - Czars from India and Thailand combined business with pleasure at the FICCI Global Business Forum that kicked off at Bangkok. The forum highlighted the huge untapped trade potential between India and Thailand, the two majors in the global gems & jewelry industry that was attended by business czars from India and Thailand.

It was discussed that India is not just strong in its culture but is also a very strong market, with an export of US $ 20.889 billion in 2007-08 and records a growth of 22 %. Out of this, India exports only 2% of its Jewelry to Thailand and has a tremendous potential to grow. Thailand on the other hand is the gemstone capital of the world. Thus, the FICCI Global Business Forum at Bangkok was an effort towards bilateral trade promotion activities such as to benefit the gem and Jewelry sector in both the nations.

The trade between Indian and Thailand has a huge untapped potential to grow. Inter Organizational collaborations and partnerships will help harness this potential. India and Thailand can work together to leverage their strengths to capture a larger market share in the American European and emerging markets of the world.

Speaking at the forum Mr. Mehul Choksi, Chairman, FICCI's Gem & Jewelry Committee said, "India and Thailand can work together to leverage their strengths to capture a larger market share in the American, European and emerging markets of the world. Inter Organizational collaborations and partnerships will help harness this potential".

Jewelry Shanghai: Visitor Numbers Down but Quality Up

Jewelry Shanghai 2008 concluded Sunday after a weekend-long exhibition that started May 8 at the Shanghai New international Expo Center. On the last day of the show, hours before companies began packing up their booths, foot-traffic was light, mostly made up of members of the public, with a few trade members here and there.

Prominent designs included gold jewelry set with small size diamonds, with a good deal of jade, amber, pearls and precious stone pieces all around. Diamantaires noted good sales of SI+ / D-G goods.

Jane Kao of Taipei, Taiwan-based jewelry wholesale company Bennie Wang Jewelry, exhibiting for the first time at Jewelry Shanghai, remarked that the visitor numbers were much lower than she had expected and that most of the attendees she saw were consumers. The company sells its own designs to retailers, and, although Kao says that the industry members she did meet were interested, sales were “not good.”

“We are mostly here to promote our company and to test if people in Shanghai like our product. We are different from others who sell mass-produced items. Ours are all designed in-house, in small numbers. Nevertheless, I expected to see more people here.” Kao commented that a recent downturn in the Shanghai stock market, as well as overall concern about the economy kept people away.

Anna Tchapovshaia, of Botswana Diamonds, a brand manufactured by DTC Botswana Sightholder DIA Holdings and distributed in China by Trinity Diamond, echoed the sentiment, that most of the attendees they saw were consumers, not trade members. However, despite this she says that the brand is there almost purely for the PR opportunity, and “in terms of this, we’re happy with the show.”

Official visitor numbers were not made available from show organizers.

Raymond Cohen, sales executive of Antwerp-based DTC Sightholder Tache Company NV, emphasized that the relatively sparse crowds at the show didn’t faze him. “Numbers are down, definitely, but the quality of buyers is up,” he says.

Cohen also gave some advice to foreign companies exhibiting in China. “Chinese buyers want a large range of goods. I think a lot of companies come here with a very specific set of goods, that people here may or may not want, but you can’t do that.” When asked how the show is going for him, he said that it is going very well. “It’s simple,” Cohen says. “If you have the goods, it’s fine; if not, it’s not good.” He said most buyers had been interested in everything but SI goods.

Raj Impex Shanghai Limited is a company that has been selling in Shanghai for approximately two years now and that specializes in small goods below 0.30 carat. “Mac,” a sales executive, echoed the complaints of other exhibitors that people were simply not buying. Those that had been buying were mostly Chinese, Japanese and Korean buyers.

He stressed that the show is very small in comparison to others in the region, such as Hong Kong, but that the event is a good opportunity to meet and gain new customers from cities in the Shanghai area that may not come to Hong Kong.

Show organizers said that there were 400 exhibiting companies from China, Hong Kong, India, Belgium, Israel, Taiwan and others. Shanghai, they say, makes up 20 percent of the Chinese jewelry industry’s total sales and is an important distribution and consolidating center for the country’s industry.