Indian trade body launches digitised international jewellery show

The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), India’s trade body for the jewellery industry, launched its virtual International Gem & Jewellery Show (e-IGJS) on 18 January.

Featuring 100 exhibitors from across India, the e-IGJS registered more than 500 buyers from 56 countries, including Australia and New Zealand.

“India has been supplying quality gemstones and jewellery over the years, and the pandemic has forced us to remain physically distant but stay connected in unique ways – like this virtual show”VIPUL SHAH, GJEPC

Described as an “exclusive export-oriented show”, the four-day digital event runs until 22 January and features diamond jewellery, colour gemstone jewellery, gold, silver, and platinum jewellery, and loose gemstones and diamonds.

It follows the GJEPC’s two successful digital India International Jewellery Shows – known as IIJS Virtual – which took place on 8–12 January 2021 and 12–16 October 2020.

Those events were developed for both Indian and overseas buyers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vipul Shah, vice chairman, GJEPC, said, “[The] e-IGJS is open to international buyers only. The show is curated based on the product needs of each region/market. The manufacturers are handpicked, capable of meeting high global standards.

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“India has been supplying quality gemstones and jewellery over the years, and the pandemic has forced us to remain physically distant but stay connected in unique ways – like this virtual show.”

Opening the e-IGJS, Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, said, “[This] international trade show for gemstones and jewellery is organised at an ideal time, as demand from all major markets such as the US, China, Hong Kong, and the Middle East is now picking up.”

Suresh Kumar, joint secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, added, “The disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic posed a serious challenge to the exporters of this sector. However, the industry remained resilient and has been gradually improving to move towards the path of recovery.”

Kumar said gemstone and jewellery exports had recently returned to pre-COVID levels and praised the GJEPC for its management of the crisis.

Data from the most recent available 12-month reporting period, April 2019 to March 2020, showed India’s gemstone and jewellery exports totalled $US35 billion, with its largest markets being the US and Hong Kong. According to national figures, gemstone and jewellery exports comprise approximately 15 per cent of the country’s total exports.