Mumbai:The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) organized the second edition of India International Diamond Week powered by Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) from 23rd to 25th October 2018 on the sidelines of World Diamond Council (WDC) AGM and World Federation Diamond Bourses’ (WFDB) Meet in Mumbai.
This is part of its endeavour to promote the Indian diamond industry globally and improve its trade relations with high potential country markets. Fifty crème-de-la-crème exhibited and networked with 120 international buyers from 29 countries including Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, China & Hong Kong, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Israeli, Kazakhstan, Korea, Lebanon, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Russian, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK, Ukraine, USA and Uzbekistan amongst others.
India Diamond Week 2018 was inaugurated by Pramod Kumar Agrawal (Chairman, GJEPC), Colin Shah (Vice Chairman, GJEPC), Dilip Shah (Convener-International Exhibitions, GJEPC), Sanjay Shah (Convener, Diamond Panel, GJEPC) and Sabyasachi Ray (Executive Director, GJEPC) in the presence of Senthil Nathan (Dy. Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, GOI),.
Indian diamantaires showcased their capabilities through various offerings in terms of polished diamond shape, size and cuts. GJEPC invited the leading international buyers to India to deal directly with Indian suppliers and to reduce cost of transactions and boost bilateral trade between global importers and Indian exporters. Gem & jewellery exports accounted for USD 42 billion in 2017 and the overall gross exports of gem & jewellery exports were at USD 20.23 billion during April-September 2018 (down 2.49%) as compared to USD 20.74 billion during April-September 2017.
Mr. Pramod Kumar Agrawal, Chairman, GJEPC, said, “The 2nd edition of India Diamond Week has been organized in a much bigger way with increased participation of diamond manufacturers and buyers fromacross the world. Proving that India is preferred sourcing destination to the world, focussed Buyer Seller Meets will further promote business and strengthen ties between Indian trade and international buyers. It will also help them discover new facets of Indian expertise – wherein India not only played a pioneering role in the development of value-added diamond cutting but now our diamantaires have developed skillset for cutting and polishing larger stones and fancy cuts. India Diamond Week is a great occasion to reiterate that the Indian diamond trade is committed to four pillar principles of fair trade.”
GJEPC leads in self-regulation encouraged through MyKYC amongst GJEPC members. GJEPC has launched ‘My KYC Bank’ portal, for total transparency in operations. ‘My KYC Bank’ is a centralised KYC platform for the gems and jewellery industry. All industry participants can update their own KYC information and documents on a single window and subsequently share the same with their trading partners.
The Indian industry has been successfully following the Best Business Practices and complying with the world Business standards. Indian companies follow The Best Practice Principles, a set of ethical standards developed by De Beers to promote the highest business conduct in the diamond pipeline. In addition to the same the companies in India are following the System of Warranties on all their invoices as initiated by WFDB & WDC.
Moreover, the GJEPC in the capacity of being a KP Import / Export Authority in India is working closely with the KP Chair, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and the trade to implement and oversee the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in India. India is the Vice Chair of KPCS for the calendar year 2018 and will handle the responsibilities of Chairmanship during the year 2019.
GJEPC has created Sustainable Development through model programs for the health and welfare of its workers such as Swasthya Ratna.
GJEPC plays a dominant role in global diamond advertising. For the generic promotion of diamonds, GJEPC has joined hands with Diamond Producers Association – DPA to fund the promotion of Diamonds and Diamond Jewellery with the sole objective to instil demand for the product at the consumer end. The overall media promotion funds allocated by DPA for 3 markets namely the USA, China and India are to the tune of USD 40 million. GJEPC has contributed USD 2 million to the Global promotion fund by the DPA.
GJEPC is building state-of-the-art gemological laboratories that ensure diamonds are natural, well-crafted and ethically sourced.
